


If The World Was Ending

by name_me_regret



Series: Crossing The Divide [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Athena Grant is Evan "Buck" Buckley's Parent, BAMF Tony Stark, Bisexual Evan "Buck" Buckley, Bisexual Tony Stark, Bobby Nash is Evan "Buck" Buckley's Parent, Buddie (maybe??), Canon Divergence - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 1, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 3, Evan "Buck" Buckley Has Bad Parents, Evan "Buck" Buckley and Eddie Diaz Being Idiots, Evan Buckley never dated Ali Martin, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Getting Together, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Jealous Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), M/M, Pining, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Iron Man Movies, Protective Evan "Buck" Buckley, Protective Firehouse 118 Crew (9-1-1 TV), Protective Tony Stark, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Doesn't Like Being Handed Things, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Tony Stark Is Ten Years Younger, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley, so much fucking pinning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:00:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/name_me_regret/pseuds/name_me_regret
Summary: Evan Buckley has pretty much given up after his leg is crushed under a ladder truck, and then almost dying again from a pulmonary embolism. Then he gets a phone call from an old friend...
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Evan “Buck” Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan “Buck” Buckley & Tony Stark, Evan “Buck” Buckley/Abby Clark (past), Evan “Buck” Buckley/Ali Martin (Never Happened), Evan “Buck” Buckley/Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz, Evan “Buck” Buckley/Tony Stark, Evan “Buck” Buckley/Tony Stark (past), Tony Stark/Pepper Potts (past)
Series: Crossing The Divide [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976356
Comments: 132
Kudos: 385





	1. Lovely Day

**Author's Note:**

> So, this just sprang up on me one day, and I just wrote it. It started as a doc titled “Avengers/9-1-1 crossover” and I just started to write how exactly Tony Stark would fit in this universe. He fits rather well, I think 🤔 I have quite a bit written, but I’m mostly gonna concentrate on “Us, The Martians” cause I really wanna get that done. I’m struggling with “He Keeps Him Happy”, cause I’m filled with angst and I suck as romance (like smut and shit), so yeah... I’m struggling to write the next chapter. I haven’t given up on it, but I need a break. So, that’s why I started on “If The World Was Ending”.
> 
> I noticed that there’s a Buddie writer I love (an_alternate_world) with a Buddie story with the same name 😆 I’m reading one of her/his/their other stories, but not this one in particular lol so i had no idea. Giving my story the same title wasn’t on purpose, I was just listening to If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe & Julia Michaels and I just thought it fit. Then I saw that she/he/they had the same title for s Buddie fic. By then I was invested in this title... so I left it as is lol Oh well, it’s not the same story, and mine is a crossover. So, yeah...

**If The World Was Ending  
****Chapter One:** _Lovely Day_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_When I wake up in the morning, love  
And the sunlight hurts my eyes  
And something without warning, love  
Bears heavy on my mind_

_Then I look at you  
And the world's alright with me  
Just one look at you  
And I know it's gonna be  
A lovely day...”_

~Lovely Day - Bill Withers

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

When Buck’s phone rang on day eight day of his funk over not being able to be a firefighter, he contemplated ignoring it. In fact, he wanted to throw it against the wall. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that it could be someone from LAFD calling to say he could go back to work. After all, it wasn’t like he’d officially quit; he’d just told Bobby that he quit.

There was something that told him (mainly the others that had been told by the Captain had said that Buck would be able to return as soon as he was off the blood-thinners) that Bobby hadn’t filed the official paperwork. Buck had also not received anything in the mail, with the exception of his worker’s comp check, so that meant he still had his job. He just couldn’t be officially back, with his team at the 118.

So, now he was back to thinking that he wanted to fling his phone at the wall, since he’d not only been jerked out of a good sleep, but he was sure it would be one of his ‘former’ co-workers that wanted him to go out. And really, what was the point?

In the end, he decided to answer. He fumbled for the phone, almost knocking it off the bed before he grabbed and answered. “What?” he grunted, hoping it wasn’t Maddie trying to get him to go do something with her. Although, he quickly remembered that she had a shift that day.

A familiar voice chuckled in his ear. “That’s certainly not how I expected to be greeted after I took time off my busy schedule to see how you were doing,” the man said, all mock-offended.

Buck frowned. “Tony?” he asked, quickly glancing at the number and not recognizing it.

“The one and only. So, I hear you took a nap under a fire engine,” he said, hearing him moving around. “You’re supposed to ride the truck, not let it ride you.”

Buck sat up, running a hand through his short blonde hair. “It was a ladder truck actually,” he corrected as he got up. He was fully awake and was sure that Tony wouldn’t let him go back to sleep. He’d be likely to show up, even with being all the way in New York. “And it was five months ago. I have blood clots now, which gave me a pulmonary embolism, making me vomit blood and almost die,” he said flippantly.

“Holy shit, Evan. Your life sounds more exciting than mine,” Tony tried to joke. Buck had known him long enough to know he was freaking out. He was also the only person besides Maddie that called him Evan, simply because the man simply refused to call him Buck.

The blonde man scoffed. “Somehow, I highly doubt that.” He pulled open his fridge and made a face with how empty it was. Buck really needed to go get groceries. “But risks comes with the job though. We should get together for some lunch the next time you’re in California, and we’ll trade stories.”

“Oh?” Tony intoned, sounding interested. “That sounds like you’re asking me out on a date, Mr. Buckley. I don’t put out on the first date, well, not anymore at least.”

Buck rolled his eyes, but whether it was at Tony’s words or that he also had nothing in his pantry, he wasn’t sure. “Aren’t you dating that red head?”

“Yeah... no,” he sighed. “We broke up after... well, what happened last year.”

He quietly smacked his fist against his forehead, trying not to groan at his slip. “Ah man, I’m sorry, Tony,” he said. Buck knew it had been pretty serious, the only serious relationship he’d been in since... well, since _they_ had dated.

“No, it’s my fault. I couldn’t stop my _extra-curricular activities_ , and she couldn’t deal with it anymore. Maybe it’s for the best.” He laughed, but Evan could tell it was forced. “It’s just super awkward being in New York, since she’s here as well. So, I might take you up on your offer sooner rather than later.”

Buck nodded as he leaned against the metal stairs that led up to his loft. “Yeah, of course. You can stop by whenever.”

“Are you sure I wouldn’t be stepping on anyone’s toes?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the last I checked your Instagram, there was a cute kid on there... with a tall, dark and definitely handsome Hispanic man.”

“Oh,” Buck said. “That’s Eddie and his son, Christopher. We’re not... it’s not like that.”

“But you want it to be,” he said it like a statement and not a question.

It was Buck’s turn to force a laugh. “Even if I did, I’m pretty sure he’s straight. So, as I said, you don’t have to worry.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Tony laughed. “Just don’t want to get punched by a jealous boyfriend.”

Buck grinned as he licked his lips, since they always felt really dry when he woke up. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first, and probably not the last,” he taunted.

Tony snorted on his end. “Very funny, Buckley,” he said.

“Wasn’t trying to be, Stark,” he shot back.

The other man laughed again. “Well, I gotta go. It seems my job is never done.”

“Alas, tis’ the life of a superhero,” Buck said with mock exasperation.

After they said their good-byes and hung up, Buck saw how early it was; not even 7am yet. Tony was such an asshole, since he _knew_ about the time difference and had called him anyways. And on a Saturday.

He decided that since he was up, he might as well go get some breakfast, since being awake had awoken his hunger. As he climbed down the steps, his front door opened and his favorite Diaz boys walked in.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Eddie said, sounding surprised. “I thought for sure you’d still be in bed.”

Buck sighed. “I was, but some as- I mean, some jerk woke me up,” he said, eyes darting to Christopher. He crouched down to smile at the precious almost nine year old. “Hey buddy.”

“Hi, Buck,” he said, the slight lisp making the greeting sound adorable and never failed to make Buck’s heart melt. It was almost ridiculous how fast and easily he’d fallen in love with the kid, and knew he would do anything to make sure that smile never went away.

When they situated Chris in front of the television and they’d wandered to the kitchen where Eddie proceeded to make himself at home and make some coffee. It wasn’t that Buck minded, not one bit, but he also wondered what Eddie was doing here. “So, what are you doing here?” His eyebrows drew together in an unhappy frown. “Don’t you have a shift today?”

The Hispanic man drank the coffee as he looked over the rim at Buck, amusement in his eyes. Buck just scowled at him as he drank his coffee and didn’t bother to answer him until he’d downed at least half of it. “That’s why we’re here,” he said as he walked over to give Christopher a hug, lifting him up and out of his seat on the couch where he’d started watching some cartoons. “Chris is hanging out with his Buck today!”

Chris gave a small giggle, before Eddie put him down where the eight year old immediately started watching his cartons again. “Because I have a 12-hour shift today.”

Buck was a bit thrown by that. “Uh, w-where’s Carla?”

“She went to Morongo!” Chris exclaimed.

Eddie grinned at the little boy. “Mmhmm.” Now he turned to Buck. “So take him out, have some fun. Maybe you’ll learn something.” He went to leave and paused, lowering his voice. “He never feels sorry for himself.” He left, and Buck resisted the urge to point out that his shirt was inside out. He hoped he realized it until he’d gotten to the firehouse and felt embarrassed. It was a bit petty, but he didn’t care.

“Love you buddy!”

“Love you! Love you, dad!”

The door closed and Buck was left with the eight year old. He gave a slightly nervous laugh as Chris eyed him curiously.

“So, what do you like to do for fun?”

At nine o’clock that morning, Southern California was hit with a tsunami.-


	2. Worlds Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark muses on his past relationship with Evan Buckley...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter isn’t too boring. It’s just that I wanted to establish the story between Tony and Buck. Anyways, let me know what you think.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Two:** _Worlds Apart_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“Here we stand  
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two  
Sleepless nights  
Losing ground, I'm reaching for you, you, you_

_Feeling that it's gone  
Can change your mind  
If we can't go on  
To survive the tide love divides_

_Someday, love will find you  
Break those chains that bind you  
One night will remind you  
How we touched and went our separate ways...”_

~Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_Where did all the water go?_

Buck kicked and flailed desperately, not knowing which way was up or down as he was turned over and over in the water, his lungs burning from lack of air. He might have given up as he felt the darkness creeping in as he felt himself get hit several times by debris, but only one thought kept him fighting to get to the surface, Christopher. Finally, he broke the surface as he took in a desperate gulp of air, hand grabbing at something, anything to anchor himself and luckily managed to get a string of lights that had been strung from one roof of a building to another. That gave him an idea of how deep the water was, and knew it would be too much for a little boy with CP.

“CHRISTOPHER!” There’s a throbbing in his head, likely from being struck by something and his ears were ringing, but he can’t concentrate on that. He has to find Chris. The string of lights holds his weight and he’s eternally grateful since the seawater is pulling at him as it tries to drag him away, looking around frantically for any sign of Chris.

Buck inhales to try and scream the boy’s name again and winds up with a mouthful of water as he chokes, trying to spit it out. “BUCK!” His head whips around, searching for the boy. He almost sobs in relief when he sees him, clinging to a cement post “HELP! BUCK!” It breaks the man’s heart at hearing how scared he sounds.

“CHRIS! HANG ON! STAY THERE!” He let’s go of the string of lights without hesitation, trying to swim and watch where he is going, but it’s hard with the current and all the debris in the water. Mostly, he’s being dragged and he can only try and kick and paddle his legs and arms to get closer to Chris. He reaches out a hand for the boy. “CHRIS! GRAB MY HAND!”

He misses and he tries to stop his progress before he gets pulled away too much. Then his heart stops when he hears Chris scream and he goes under. “NO!” He jumps back into the water, fighting the current with everything he has, and this time does sob as he catches the boy as they both surface. “I got you! I got you!”

Now he had to get them to safety.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony is working on the welding one of the arms of his latest suit, Mark 44. He’d had the idea after the Mandarin Incident when Bruce had come to visit him (more like sleep) after everything had been resolved. Banner always talked about being afraid that he would lose control of the Hulk, so Tony had started the idea of the Hulkbuster Armor, or the Mark 44. He’d run it by Bruce and he’d been all for it, if only so he could be stopped before he hurt someone. That’s what he had been working on for the past month, as well as completing the Mark 43 and finishing testing on it. He’d also repaired some of the armors that had been salvageable after the Battle on the Norco.

He’d planned on initiating the Clean Slate Protocol, so he could show Pepper how serious he was that he wanted to make things better between them. Then he’d remembered what he’d seen on the other side of that worm hole and what might be coming. So, he’d held off on it, and instead sent the suits back to the underground lab in Malibu. The house had been destroyed, and instead of rebuilding the house, he’d just left it as a sort of underground bunker/lab. Regardless, he’d promised her that he would get the Extremis out of her, and try not to obsess too much on his job.

It had been alright for a while, but then it had ended, as Tony knew it would. A break, she’d called it, but Tony knew what that meant. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t expected it after everything. He was a piping hot mess, and he really hadn’t expected her to stick around. As for the Extremis, it would always be inside of her, but he’d managed to neutralize most of it. Tony knew that if she ever got angry enough it would manifest a bit in her skin, but mostly in her eyes. He was going to make sure to have JARVIS record the next time there was a board meeting. He’d love to see her put the fear of Pepper in those old geezers. It would be a video that’d go into his personal files, along with a video of Steve Rogers trying to navigate a computer.

As he welded the next piece, it was another person that was on his mind; namely Evan Buckley. If there was ever a blast from his past, it was him.

Tony hadn’t spoken to the man in almost a year, and hadn’t seen him in nine years. The last time was that charity event where he’d used his mom’s concealer to cover the black eye that Charles Buckley had given him. Of course Tony had noticed, because he’d been close enough to do so.

They’d dated for about a year, and besides Pepper, it had been one of the healthiest relationships he’d ever had. Especially when you compared it to what he’d gone through with Tiberius Stone and Sunset Bain. Evan had been eighteen and Tony had been twenty-two years old, a year after he’d taken over Stark Industries. Tony wouldn’t say he had been in love, since he was still figuring out what that even meant, but he knew that with Evan, it could be possible. It had ended though, because of Evan’s father.

The man was greedy and had been trying to profit from SI for years, but his homophobia had won out when he’d found out that Tony and Evan we’re dating. He’d forbidden Evan from seeing Tony, but not before he’d beaten his son black and blue. Maddie was eight years older than him and had already married Doug as soon as she’d turned twenty, leaving him all alone, for six years. So, there had been no one to defend Evan from the monster.

Tony had wanted to give the bastard a taste of his own medicine. He’d have even thought of asking Rhodey to help him, and he would have agreed on principle alone. Also, Rhodey really liked Evan, and he had even tried to convince him to join the Air Force when Tony had finally gotten them to meet. The only reason he hadn’t done anything was because Evan had damn near begged Tony to leave it alone. He’d told him that he was going away soon anyways. If it had been anyone else, he’d have done it anyways, but since it was Evan, he’d very reluctantly let it go.

And true to his word, he’d left as soon as he had his high school diploma in hand. Tony knew he’d applied to schools all out of state (and Pennsylvania was right next to New York and the Buckley manor was close to the state line), but he’d never told him which school he had decided on. Evan was just gone one day with only a letter left to him. He’d gotten a phone call from him two months later to tell him that he’d started at UCLA. Tony would have gone to see him then, but Obie had insisted he stay in New York and complete his deadlines. However, one deadline had turned into one more and one more, and then a charity ball, or a fundraiser, and by that point he had surrendered completely to his addictions and hook-ups.

It was almost three years before he looked Evan up, and it was to learn that he was no longer at UCLA. And it would be six more years before he saw him again, and in that time he’d been kidnapped in Afghanistan, gotten shrapnel in his heart and became a goddamn superhero. He’d just revealed himself as Iron Man when he finally saw Evan, on television on a news report of a rollercoaster accident, and damned if Evan Buckley wasn’t the firefighter they were interviewing.

Tony had seen the pain on his friend’s face (even if friend wasn’t the right word to describe their relationship), and knew he had to get in touch with him. That turned out to be two weeks later when he was in California for some SI business. He’d managed to get his cell phone number from his personnel file with the LAFD. Their firewalls had been atrocious, or maybe it was because they were no match for JARVIS. At least he’d gotten him to ‘patch’ up the hole in their defenses, as well as a backdoor someone had left behind. Tony wondered who’d want a backdoor to the LAFD.

He’d called him to catch up and see if their schedule’s coincided so they could meet. The man had been shocked but excited to hear from him, however, he was about to start a 24-hour shift and Tony wasn’t in town for more than a day. So, they had missed each other again. This time they’d kept up a bit more before the demands of their lives had once again left them incommunicado, and that had been almost two years. He’d learned during that time that he was seeing a woman almost twice his age.

Tony hadn’t liked it, since the balance of power in the relationship was not good. He felt like Evan was giving more than she was into the relationship, even if she couldn’t be blamed for having a sick mother. So, he hadn’t said anything, since Evan appeared to be smitten. Besides, Tony already knew how it was bound to play out, and while it was a harsh lesson, it was one that Evan needed to learn on his own. Tony couldn’t shield him, and Evan had always been so independent that he wouldn’t have been able to shield him even if he’d tried.

He was like Tony in that regard due to similar childhoods; growing up with a father that only saw you as a constant disappointment, and a mother that was much too “proper” to stand between her callous, bastard of a husband and their young and innocent child. That was most likely the reason Tony and Evan had clung to one another, and for that year together had been their only support.

For Buck, he’d been alone longer, six years since his sister had left to marry the first man that showed her any interest. As for Tony, Rhodey was in the Air Force, had joined straight out of MIT, but for the past eighteen months had been stationed at Yokohama Air Base in Tokyo. At the time Tony had also taken over SI, which was the only legacy his father had ever been proud of; besides Captain fucking America.

Tony groaned at the memories that resurfaced from talking to Evan, and it was _very_ distracting. Their relationship had been a rather decadent one, and one he wouldn’t mind reliving once again. Which is why he had to stop these thoughts right now. Evan was obviously jonesing on this Eddie person, and he didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

“Sir, need I remind you that you’ve been up for almost 40 hours, and it would be optimal you get some sleep before your 1pm meeting,” JARVIS drawling in his crisp British voice.

The man sighed and waved his hand. “Alright, save it all, J,” He staggered to the couch and collapsed on. “Wake me up in two hours.” Tony yawned before he closed his eyes.

It seemed like he’d only just closed his eyes when the alarm went off through the penthouse. Tony jackknifed up in the couch, looking around to see if there was any danger, and it only took a second more to realize what that alarm meant. He guessed he was missing his 1pm meeting, and hoped Pepper wouldn’t be too angry.

He sprang to his feet, all sleep gone from his face as he pulled up the hallographic screens. “What have you got, J?” Tony was already pulling a t-shirt over his tank top that he deemed was clean enough. He doubted that he’d have enough time to shimmy into his flight suit, which was a shame since it was the most comfortable thing to wear while wearing the armor for long periods of time.

“A tsunami has just hit Southern California, sir.”-


	3. California Dreamin’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony reaches California...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m working on the next chapter of Us, The Martians but thought I’d post this first. I need to stop making chapters so long and then maybe I’d post when I mean to post lol oh well. Lemme know what you think.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Three:** _California Dreamin’_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“All the leaves are brown  
And the sky is grey  
I've been for a walk  
On a winter's day  
I'd be safe and warm  
If I was in L.A.  
California dreamin'  
On such a winter's day_

_Stopped into a church  
I passed along the way  
Well, I got down on my knees  
And I pretend to pray  
You know the preacher liked the cold  
He knows I’m gonna stay  
California Dreamin’...”_

~California Dreamin’ - Cover by Sia

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony sprang to his feet as he immediately rushed toward the suit that opened up for him. The skylight he’d had installed after invasion slid open and he blasted into the sky. “J, deploy the Iron Legion now!” As he did, he remembered Evan and he pulled up where the tsunami had hit and felt cold terror grip him as he saw that the Santa Monica pier had been taken out. “Shit! JARVIS, what’s my ETA?”

The HUD popped up a calculation. “At the speed you’re going, your estimated time of arrival should be three hours.”

That was unacceptable. He put more power into the thrusters as he could, and heard the BOOM as he broke the sound barrier somewhere over Lake Eerie. “At this speed ETA is two hours,” JARVIS intoned without having to be asked.

“What about the Iron Legion?” Tony was so relieved now that he hadn’t destroyed the rest of his suits after the Battle of Norco.

“ETA four minutes,” JARVIS told him. That was a much better time since when it came to natural disasters, especially involving large amounts of water, every minute, every second counted. Tony set his suit to auto-pilot for the remainder of the flight, making sure to call the FAA. He didn’t want any aircraft to accidentally stray into his path, and he’d be a disaster on top of a disaster.

“Give me eyes as soon as they reach the affected areas. Also, patch me into the channel the first responders use.” A few minutes later his HUD was filled with live feed from the suits, and he was rendered speechless at what he saw. Tony wished he could speed up past Mach 5 without the suit falling apart.

He decided to concentrate on what he _could_ do (and not on a certain someone), and pulled up the stats on the suits that were functional. Out of the 35 suits he’d made between the invasion of Manhattan and the Mandarin Incident, there were nine viable suits. It was the Mark 20: Python, Mark 25: Striker/Thumper, Mark 28: Jack, Mark 33: Silver Centurion, Mark 34: Southpaw, Mark 36: Peacemaker, Mark 37: Hammerhead, Mark 38: Igor, and Mark 41: Bones.

Tony wished the Mark 35 would have survived, since the Red Snapper was made to save people during natural disasters; for example, rescuing victims trapped during an earthquake. He’d gotten the idea after the 7.1 earthquake that had hit LA, and now a year and a half later they’re hit with a tsunami. Unfortunately, Killian had destroyed it during the Battle of Norco.

Well, Southpaw would have to do, even if Red Snapper would have been better with its extendable and retractable claws. At least Hammerhead would come in handy, since it could remain submerged for long periods of time.

“This is Iron Man. I have multiple suits flying over the city and ready to help out. Just point me in the right direction and I’ll help where I can.” Almost immediately he was flooded with calls of trapped civilians, several inside and on top of their houses. He told JARVIS to concentrate on the ones trapped inside their houses, since there was another wave and the water was rising alarmingly fast. There were some people still trapped in their vehicles and unfortunately they couldn’t get to everyone on time.

He directed the suits where to go that they’d be the most useful. Tony heard dispatch call Swift Water Command, calling in a Code Three. Tony heard the commander say they were delayed and luckily J had a suit in the area. It was Bones and he saw the armor detach into several pieces and break through two roof vents to save a man trapped in the attic of his flooding house. As he watched the suits save people; Hammerhead dove for a little girl that had fallen into the water from off the roof of her house when she slipped, and Igor large enough that it could fly with several people hanging from it to take them to higher ground, he was even more glad he hadn’t destroyed the suits.

Sure he loved Pepper and would do anything for her, but with every life he saved, he remembered why he’d become Iron Man in the first place. He’d remembered those soldiers he’d laughed and joked with before they’d been gunned down, with his own weapons no less, and knew he’d made the right choice to not quit this. And maybe Pepper would come around and maybe she wouldn’t, but he refused to be guilted for doing something that saved people’s lives; even if at the times he was so sick and tired, and so inured he could barely move or breathe without something hurting.

It was more important to be able to help people, made him feel like he was alive for a reason. He’d told her three years ago, that he shouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for a reason, and this was that reason. It wasn’t fighting Killian and aliens, but helping and protecting the people _from_ those threats.

It was almost two hours later, after remotely piloting the other suits, that he was physically flying over the city. The water still hadn’t receded, and three more waves had hit, and hopefully that would be the end of it but he doubted it. Tony wanted to call Evan and make sure he was alright, but cell phone service was wonky at the moment. Besides, he didn’t want to tie up the line when there were others that needed actual help. Evan’s apartment was out of the flood zone, so he was sure he was fine. He was weirdly glad he had a serious blood clot condition that had him confined to his home, and not out there with the rest of the first responders. Tony wouldn’t be able to concentrate if he knew Evan was in danger.

He decided not to unpack all of that right now and quickly dismissed the rest of the live feeds of the Iron Legion, letting JARVIS take over. Although now that he’d seen some of what was required for something of this magnitude, he knew he needed to remake Red Snapper and more Iron Legion, probably a special force that could be used for natural disasters. While Southpaw was for natural disasters as well, it was mostly to protect the user from damage from natural disasters. He needed more armors that had emergency features, like medical features such as the ability to be used as a defibrillator or even carry oxygen or breathing equipment for CPR.

Tony headed toward the pier, since flooding was still extensive, and he heard calls earlier of first responders being needed at the Santa Monica Pier. As he neared where the worst of the flooding was, he saw that the whole pier was underwater. There saw also an actual Ferris wheel that was still standing after all three waves, but it wouldn’t hold for much longer.

As he neared, he saw that the wave was starting to recede, going in the other direction. He heard the ones at the Ferris wheel call the coast guard. _‘Coast Guard, Coast Guard. This is Captain Nash LAFD. We need a miracle at the pier. We need one quick.’_ As the helicopter flew in, the Ferris wheel started to tip, and he blasted forward.

“Incoming, Captain Nash!” he called over the speaker on his suit, arriving in time to catch the Ferris wheel as it almost toppled. Tony saw that most of the people had been evacuated except for the one who was being airlifted and a woman with curly hair, as well as two first responders, both firefighters by the looks of it.

“Iron Man!” he heard someone call in surprise.

“Yes, I’ll sign autographs later,” he joked, “but right now this thing is coming down and I might not be able to hold it for long.” The two firefighters, one Hispanic man and another Caucasian woman had just finished lowering the woman and now looked at each other, unclipped from their lines and jumped, landing feet first in the water. “Ten out of ten!” Tony called, “now let’s go go go!” They scrambled onto the speed boats as Tony grunted as the debris hit it hard and it started to put a strain on the armor. When he saw they were clear, he let it drop as he flew out of the way barely in time from getting knocked down by it.

He met them at the entrance of the pier by the sign that read ‘•Yacht Harbor• SPORT FISHING •BOATING Cafes’, the water still high enough that it reach most of their calves. If he’d been in any armor before the Mark 8, he’d have thought twice before landing in the water. However the Mark 43 was a better version of all the armors that had come before. He wanted to see if anyone needed help.

“Iron Man,” he heard someone call. Tony turned to see a stern looking man in his early fifties with a helmet on his head and the red vest that declared him a fire captain. This must be Captain Nash. He was wet and obviously tired, but there was still a certain amount of authority to the set of his shoulders. He had the kind of presence Howard had given off, but tempered with something softer Tony couldn’t identify.

“That’s me,” he said as he lifted up the face plate but refrained from stepping out of the suit. He didn’t want to get his shoes wet, and besides, this man appeared to be at good six feet and even if it was only two or three inches, he hated feeling short. Especially when it was from a man that reminded him if even just a tiny bit of Howard. “But just Tony, please. What can I do for you, Captain?”

Nash extended his hand, and Tony took it without hesitation. He had more respect for first responders than any bureaucratic asshole that wanted to shake his hand and play nice for the cameras. “Bobby Nash of the 118. Thank you for the assist,” giving his gauntlet covered hand a firm shake. Tony liked the sincerity in his voice.

“It was no problem, Cap. I didn’t really do much,” he assured. The man’s lips quirked a bit, whether in annoyance or amusement, it was hard to tell. Bobby Nash had one of those faces that gave almost nothing away. “Do you need anymore assistance?”

The woman opened her mouth but Bobby held a hand to stop her. The woman’s nametag, which was surprisingly still on, read Bosko, and the man had Diaz on his. Tony wondered why that sounded familiar. “We have a missing member of Firehouse 136, Captain Ronnie Cooper. There’s also a lot of people trapped and missing. I had thought I heard that Iron Man was helping out, and it’s nice to see it’s true.”

“Sure am, wherever it’s needed.” He’d already been able to help a lot of people and hoped to continue as long as his body and the power supply on his armors allowed. “I’ll keep an eye out for Captain Cooper, and if you need help with anything, give me a holler. There are several other suits flying over the city. So, even if I’m not nearby, my co-pilot JARVIS will be able to assist you if I can’t.”

He gave the man a salute that wasn’t meant to be at all mocking, and then the faceplate snapped shut before he blasted into the air. Tony wanted to make sure there weren’t any locations that had been damaged that could potentially become deadly. The last thing he needed was for the water to catch on fire if there was any gas spillage, and he expected it’d be a terrifying sight.

“J, try Evan’s phone,” he said. “Also, bring up satellite images of Hawaii. I don’t want to be blindsided in case they were hit as well.”

“Bringing up images right now, sir. Also, I’m getting no response from Mr. Buckley’s phone.” This made Tony worry, since Evan always answered his phone (even when he called him an old man for calling and not texting). He couldn’t do anything though, since he was needed right where he was. Tony couldn’t just rush to Evan’s apartment, there was no flooding in the area, and there were people in need of help. So, he reluctantly continued on.

“You better be safe, Evan,” he muttered.-


	4. Los Angeles, I’m Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds and saves someone, and Buck continues his desperate search for Christopher...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are short, but I’m not really sorry lol mostly cause I can get them posted faster. That’s what happened with Us, The Martians and HMHH, the chapters started out too long and now I’ve shot myself in the foot. So yeah, ima have to just cut back on them and to hell with everything else lol for now, enjoy this chapter of Tony being a BAMF, as always.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Four:** _Los Angeles, I'm Yours_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“There is a city by the sea  
A gentle company  
I don't suppose you want to?_

_And as it tells its sorry tale  
In harrowing detail  
Its hollowness will haunt you_

_Its streets and boulevards  
Orphans and oligarchs  
A plaintive melody  
Truncated symphony.  
An ocean's garbled vomit on the shore  
Los Angeles, I'm yours...”_

~ Los Angeles, I'm Yours - The Decemberists

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_‘Hey, Buck, it’s me. I just want you to tell Christopher I’ll be a little late picking him up, got our hands full here. It’s a good thing you’re missing it. Hope you guys are having fun.’_

Buck was exhausted and lightheaded, but constantly looking for the boy with curls and a smile bright enough to light up a room. “Hey! There’s a kid under here!” a woman yelled.

“Christopher?” he exclaims, desperately clinging to any hope that it’s the little boy he’s looking for. “Hey! Hey, guys!” He hurries over, water sloshing around his legs and the Chris’s glasses hanging around his neck. “Hey, hey, big guy! Me and you, come on!” A man that’s almost four inches taller than him (which is impressive since he’s 6’2, hurries to help him. “All right, three, two, one. Go!”

They lift the heavy sign off the child, and as the others cheer and help them stand up, his hope is crushed when he sees it’s a twelve year old girl, not Christopher. The woman consoles the crying girl and Buck sighs in deep seeded exhaustion.

When someone says they might have seen Christopher at a Cupcakery on Strand, he forgets his fatigue and is moving again. He’s so wrapped up in wanting to find Chris and already numb, that he doesn’t notice that the edge of the sign has cut his arm pretty deeply.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony landed at a gas station, the water having receded, but the debris has done damage to the pumps and some were leaking. After pushing the emergency shut off button, he called it in and put up caution tape he’d snagged from a Home Depot store blocking off the driveway. Hopefully people would stay away, since there was a lot of spilled gas.

“Iron Man, there’s a fire at a Shell Gas Station on West Century Blvd,” he heard a woman’s voice from dispatch. He had just gotten back in the air as the call came in, heading toward the areas still heavily flooded with water. He was about to go put that fire out but saw a little boy in a yellow t-shirt sitting on top a car. “J, put out that fire out, I have eyes on a child in need of rescuing.”

He swooped down as the boy lifted his eyes to the sky, his small face covered in mud but looking relatively unharmed. Tony landed next to the car, making sure not to land too hard and risk upsetting the water and possibly knocking him over. “Hey, buddy,” he said, the faceplate lifting up.

“You’re Iron Man,” he said with a bright smile that made Tony smile as well.

“I sure am, what’s your name?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” he told him, making Tony grin again. He had an adorable lisp, and it made his heart melt. Despite what they said about him, he liked kids. It’s just that he feared turning out like Howard and messing up the life of an innocent child that made him never want to become a dad.

“That’s true and your mom and dad are smart for having taught you that.” He could tell he was having a hard time keeping his head up, and he didn’t think it was from fatigue. Maybe a disability.

“My mom... she’s gone,” he told Tony with a sad, quiet voice.

“Well, my mom is gone too, and my dad.” He sat on the front of the car, and besides shifting a bit, it didn’t move too much under the weight of the armor. “It’s okay to be sad, you know?” The kid nodded, squinting at his face. “How about this, my name is Tony. Now you know my name, besides being Iron Man. Is it okay to give me your name now? Or your dad‘s name?”

“I’m Chris,” he finally said.

“Alright, well, let’s get you to the nearest hospital, Chris. The nice people there will make sure you’re not hurt and get you home, okay?” He reached out and gently picked him up, the kid gripping his shoulders a bit clumsily.

When Tony took to the air, he made sure not to go too fast. If he did, he might hurt Chris and that’s the last thing he wanted. That meant it was slow going, but it also allowed him to hear Chris as he cried out joyfully at flying.

Tony smiled at his resilience, and was sure Chris was going to be alright.

The man took him to the field hospital they’d set up at the decommissioned VA hospital on Sawtelle, handing him over to a nurse, who was in charge of the kids; getting their names and the names of their family to reunite them later. “Stay strong, kid,” he told him. “I’m sure your dad will find you soon.”

“Bye, Tony,” Chris said as he waved at him as he was carried away.

“Cute kid,” he hummed, before blasting back into the air despite his tiredness to continue helping more people.

That’s how he spent the rest of the day, putting out fires and rescuing anyone that was trapped or stranded, and unfortunately finding a lot of corpses in the water. He hated to move on after tagging them, but there were other, living people that needed him. Tony nearly lost it when he found a drowned infant and he couldn’t just leave her, cradling the tiny body in his arms and carrying her to the nearest hospital.

He had to take a break then before he fell apart completely, stepping out of the suit for the first time in several hours. There were several relief workers also taking a break and he sat with them as they welcomed him and tried to hand him some rations. “I uh...” he hesitated, fighting back a full body shudder as memories of being poisoned as a child filled his head. He’d taught himself never to take anything that was handed to him ever again. “I don’t... like to be handed things,” he finally managed to say.

The woman, a few years older than him, smiled and nodded, setting the rations down on the seat next to him. Tony was grateful, since he usually got derisive looks or sneers from people that thought Tony was just a stuck up rich person. The woman’s eyes were kind, and maybe she saw that it was from a trauma, or maybe she didn’t. He was just grateful when she made no comment.

After a moment, he grabbed the rations and the bottle of lukewarm water. It wasn’t the worst thing he’d eaten, so he scarfed down the dry protein bar and chugged the bottle of water. The sun was starting to sink as they shot the breeze, Tony making a note to set up a relief fund for not only the people affected by the tsunami, but also the ones working tirelessly to help those in need.

It was almost half an hour after sunset that he stood and bade them farewell, stepping into his suit and going off to help once again. He was sore and exhausted, but there were so many people still out there that needed someone. If he had to, he’d be that someone. Although, he figured after an hour or two he’d take a longer break, and maybe drop by Evan’s house to finally reassure himself of his safety.

As he was flying over Oceanside, he heard Captain Nash calling for medical transportation for 17 people, recognizing his voice almost immediately. He wouldn’t be able to carry that many, but maybe he could help. As he touched down, he scanned the area and immediately saw the downed light post, sparks flying from it, and even more alarming is when JARVIS indicated the leaking gasoline truck. Bobby immediately hurried over to him as soon as he landed. “Tony, we could really use your help,” the man says.

He wasn’t sure what he could do to help, but he could see the strain on his face, both from worry and fatigue from a long day working, so Tony would do what he could. “If it’s within my capabilities, then I’ll do what I can, Cap,” he told him. The man usually liked to work on his own if he wasn’t with Rhodey, the Avengers having been a one hit wonder that hadn’t panned anything. After all, no one had come to help him when the Mandarin had destroyed his house and he’d been presumed dead.

However, it was different with Nash and his people. They all looked dirty and tired, having been working all day. The crew of the 118, and a lot more other rescue personnel had been working tirelessly to save people, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to help them when they asked for his help. He motioned toward the light post. “I imagine it has to do with that Sword of Damocles over there? And the truck leaking gasoline?”

Bobby was momentarily surprised, but shook it off before he nodded. “Yes... you know, one of my men called it just that.”

Tony smirked. “I‘ll have to meet him when we aren’t sitting on a potential explosion that could kill everyone here.”

The Captain nodded. “Well, I’ve sent two of my firefighters to acquire some vehicles, but I would feel so much better if the gasoline could possibly be neutralized.”

His mind was going a mile of minute, wondering if it would be better to douse the gasoline with kitty litter, or try and move the lamp post up and out of the way. Tony must have been talking out loud without realizing it, meaning he was more tired than he thought.

“Wait, are you sure you won’t get electrocuted?” Bobby knew the man was a superhero, and had faced many dangers, which included terrorists and even aliens. However, he wasn’t invincible, and he was just as human as Bobby was underneath his high-tech suit.

“Not to worry, Cap my suit once took a hit from Thor’s lighting and I’m still here. I’ve had 36 suit upgrades since then,” he said with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Famous last words,” the man said with a strained smile.

“Bobby, are you making a joke about my possible potential death?” he asked with mock shock, then gave him a wink as the face plate snapped closed before the man could respond. He flew toward the lamp post, grunting as he felt the shock of the electricity surge through the suit. It wasn’t as bad as when Thor had blasted him, but it was constant until he lifted the lamp post and away a bit.

 _‘Power at four hundred percent capacity,’_ JARVIS intoned like deja vu.

Tony chuckled as he moved away from the light post, the thrusters in his boots keeping him in the air and not touching the gasoline that had already spread this far. He gave the thrusters more power as he went higher into the air. “J, give me the location of the nearest pet shop.” Tony figured that the best thing to do was bury it in non-flammable kitty litter and hope for the best.

“Alright, Cap, I’ve bought you some time, but try and hurry your men,” he told him over the frequency. He hadn’t seen Diaz among them, so perhaps he was one of the ones that had gone to get some form of transportation.

He flew there as fast as he could, knowing the others were on borrowed time. The window of the PetSmart he arrived at had it’s glass doors still intact. “Remind me to pay for these doors, J,” he said as he crashed through them in a rain of glass shards and metal. He went to the cat’s section, and the lights were out but he had flood lights on his suit, and night vision on his HUD. Tony yanked a shopping cart along and started to pile inside several bags of kitty litter, as much as would fit inside the cart. He rolled it outside and then hurried over next door to the hardware store,. “I hope they don’t try to arrest me for looting.” He grabbed two tubes of sealant that he put in a bag and dumped it into the shopping cart, making another note to pay for everything he was taking. “Next time I’m going to aim for a Sam’s or a Costco,” he sighed, lifting the cart.

It was harder to fly back at high speeds without losing the kitty liter, but he managed without dropping a single bag. He cursed when he saw that the lamp post had fallen despite his best efforts, the sparks making the gasoline catch fire, and he dropped the cart. Tony didn’t want to move the post again, so he grabbed one of the ten pounds bags and tore it open before he upended it over the flames. This particular brand was made from bentonite clay, which meant it wasn’t flammable. He managed to douse the flames with a second and third bag, but to make sure it didn’t catch fire anytime soon, he used every single bag to spread it over most of the area around the lamp post. He also got the sealant and after managing to lift the truck at an angle where the gas wasn’t spilling, used both tubes of the white plaster like sealant so make sure no more would spill. When that was done and he carefully set it back down, waited a moment to make sure it wasn’t still spilling, and then used the caution tape someone had left behind to wrap around the whole area. Just to be sure.

He saw the firefighters of the 118 loading the patients into what appeared to be mail trucks and was amused. “Alright, Cap, threat neutralized for now, but I suggest you double time it out of here,” he told him. He knew that neither he or Bobby were military, but he remembered that the guy with the nametag Diaz had a military bearing to his movements. If he hadn’t served, then he’d eat his own helmet.

“Thank you for your help, Iron Man,” he radioed back.

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor tsunami, Captain Nash,” he joked.

He heard a groan on the other end. “I hope you and Chimney never meet and become friends,” a woman’s voice said over the radio.

Tony chuckled to himself as he continued on. As he went over the city where no lights were on except the occasional fire, he felt his eyesight go dark. If it wasn’t for JARVIS taking over, he’d have crashed, and as it was, he was disoriented as he came back around, and realized that he’d fallen asleep mid-flight.

Well, he guessed it was time for that break he promised himself, and changed course toward Evan’s house. Tony didn’t have many actual friends, since people always wanted him for either money, fame, or in the case of Sunset, to steal SI prototypes. So, wanted to make sure one of the few friends he had was fine, since he wouldn’t deny that he’d been thinking about him ever since this morning.

So, he was looking forward to seeing his friend face to face after all these years.-

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The woman that saved Chris is a champ; a literal superhero. I mean she carried him almost all day (as seen when she meets Athena and then when she encounters the mail trucks) and a lot of the night before she got him to Eddie. I didn’t mean to write her out, but it had to be done for the sake of the story. We never got her name and that’s a shame. To me she’s the BAMF tsunami lady, that deserves the world for saving Christopher.


	5. California Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after hours and hours of searching...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late. I got a bad case of food poisoning and yeah, I couldn’t really write and didn’t even feel like it tbh. Hope this is alright. Let me know.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Five:** _California Stars_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“I’d like to rest my heavy head tonight  
On a bed of California stars  
I’d like to lay my weary bones tonight  
On a bed of California stars_

_I’d love to feel  
Your hand touching mine  
And tell me why  
I must keep working on_

_Yes, I’d give my life_   
_To lay my head tonight on a bed_   
_Of California stars...”_

~California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Buck moved with a limp through the beds that were situated outside of the field hospital, the walk from the Cupcakery on Strand all the way to Sawtell had been a long one. The terrain had changed drastically, almost no street signs were up and those that were had been swept far from where they were supposed to be. So, it had taken him at least an hour, possibly two, but he couldn’t be too sure. He’d lost his phone when the first wave had hit and all his focus had been on Chris, first on trying to shield him from the worse of things, and then trying to find him after he’d lost him.

 _‘I never should have let him go,’_ Buck thought desperately, barely paying the rag tied to his arm any mind even when it was completely soaked with his blood by that point. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered expect finding Chris. Because Buck wasn’t sure what he’d do if that little boy... if he was gone. Buck wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

He saw a nurse and his head perked up. “Uh, hey, excuse me,” he said, remembering his manners at the last minute. “I’m-I’m looking for a kid.” His voice was rough and it broke as he spoke, and his head was aching but he _had_ to find Christopher. “Um, he’s got brown hair. Chris-Christopher.”

“Well, I have way too many Christophers on my list. How old?”

“Um, eight... maybe nine,” he said, wincing as he couldn’t remember. His head was starting to hurt even more and he felt like he could collapse at any moment. “His last name is Diaz.”

The woman flipped through the list quickly, but suddenly paused at the third page. “Yes, I have a Christopher Diaz, he’s nine years old.”

Buck felt relief shoot through him so fast that he staggered, the feeling like a physical pain. “Oh, thank God,” he gasped, sounding almost like a sob. “W-where... where is-?”

“Buck?” a familiar voice asked. Buck turned to face Eddie, the man’s eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Wait, what are you doing here?” His eyes locking on the bloody rag wrapped around his right arm. “Are you okay? Wait, where’s Christopher?”

“E-Eddie.. Eddie,” he croaked as he turned to look at his best friend.

“Why do you have his glasses?” Eddie asked, his eyes darkening so they looked more black than brown.

“We um,” he started, wanting to explain. Buck wanted him to understand why he was here but without Chris, even if he’d found him. He’d _found_ him. “M-me and Christopher, we were... at the beach.”

The man was looking at him with eyes already filling with grief and Buck shook his head. “No, listen to me, okay?” The man gave a nod, his eyes already filling with tears. “I lost him...but... but I found him... Eddie, I found him,” he said, voice desperately hopeful as he motioned toward the nurse with the clipboard. He was quickly losing his grip with consciousness, the day’s stress and the blood loss starting to catch up with him, and the all encompassing relief that he’d finally _**finally**_ found Christopher.

Eddie looked at the woman, moving forward and momentarily forgetting that Buck was hurt. He needed to see about his son. As the nurse pointed where Eddie had to go, Buck could only watch as he rushed away and he sighed with a smile.

In the next second he collapsed, and with no one to catch him, he crumpled to the unforgiving ground.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony landed on the suit on the roof before he stepped out of it and put it in sentry mode, instructing JARVIS to fly the suit back to Malibu when he confirmed that Buck was there and it was alright that he stay. It was almost midnight when he found his door, knocking on it. There was no answer after the second and then the third round of knocking, and now Tony was starting to worry.

He pulled up his phone and tried dialing his number, but it went straight to voicemail, and grew frustrated. Tony knew it wasn’t exactly legal to ping his phone, but he needed to locate Evan, hoping the man hadn’t done something reckless; like go help when he knew he had a serious blood clot condition. Even then, there was no explanation as to why he couldn’t get his location, because his apartment was out of the flood zone so there was no way for his phone to be damaged.

The man took a deep breath to keep the panic at bay, and then raced back up to the roof as he started pulling up Buck’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. It felt like a cold hand had clamped over his heart when he saw a picture from early this morning of Buck and a very familiar brown haired boy with the location as the Santa Monica Pier; half an hour before the tsunami had hit.

Tony practically threw himself into the suit, blasting up into the air. “J, check the hospitals for an Evan Buckley.” He knew that he’d left Christopher at the VA hospital in Sawtell, and cursed at not having recognized the kid when he’d picked him up earlier. If... Evan was alive (he had to be), and having been separated from the kid meant that he’d be looking for him.

The billionaire knew that Evan had always loved kids, always had card tricks for the few kids that came with their parents to charity events. Evan would make them laugh, showing them his card tricks or telling them jokes; away from their parent’s stern gazes that always told them ‘children are to be seen and not heard’. However, Evan had believed that children should be safe and happy, and he was always overjoyed to give them those secret moments filled with smiles and laughter.

So, Tony knew that Evan would look for that little boy with everything he had. He would search until he had no more strength left in his body, and without regard for his own safety. This made his worry very real, since Evan was on blood-thinners and a deep enough cut might be fatal to him.

He had to find him quickly, and was praying he wasn’t too late. “Evan, you fool,” he growled.

“Sir, there is no answer at any hopsital, and most of the patient and DOA lists haven’t been digitized as of yet.” The last part had Tony feeling cold, thinking that Evan’s name could possibly be on that list. Tony discarded that thought immediately, and instead concentrated on finding Evan, or else he was going to lose his goddamn mind.

His first stop was to go to the field hospital, hoping that maybe Evan had thought to look for Chris there. Perhaps his father had found him and knew something about the blonde man. He wanted to maybe ask his firehouse, but he didn’t remember at the moment what it was, too exhausted and panicked to think straight.

“J, pull up Evan’s file from the LAFD,” he told him. Of course he’d made a copy, since he didn’t want to go back and risk being caught hacking the LAFD again. He was sure he’d get a slap on the wrist, but it was the principle of the thing. Tony Stark did not get caught hacking, he was better than that.

He let JARVIS take control of the armor as he viewed the file, and was surprised when he saw that he was a member of the 118. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he muttered. That meant that he’d been working and helping Evan’s firehouse this whole time and hadn’t even known it. That Bobby Nash was his fire captain.

His eyebrows furrowed. That meant that Chris was one of his friend’s kid. He quickly pulled up his Instagram again and went a few posts back, almost a week ago and the picture of Evan, Chris and Eddie... Eddie Diaz. Well, this was going to be awkward when he met the man again.

Tony pushed all these thoughts to the side and brought his attention to needing to locate the 118. When he’d last seen them they had been going to drop of patients, and since the rest of the hospitals were overrun with victims, that meant the VA hospital on Sawtell. It seemed to all line up and he hoped that’s where Evan ended up as well. As he flew overhead, he saw the mail trucks being unloaded of patients.

Almost every head lifted as he came for a landing, hearing several people calling out to him; either with exclamations of gratitude or people that demanded why he hadn’t been fast enough to save their loved ones. Tony wasn’t angry, since he knew they were grieving. Honestly, he wished he _could_ have been fast enough to save more people, but he was just one person. Even with nine extra suits to help him, he just hadn’t been enough to save everyone.

The Iron Man pilot spotted Bobby Nash right away, the man immediately moving toward him. Tony was relieved when he saw Diaz with a familiar little boy in his arms, Christopher. He wasn’t as dirty as he’d left him earlier in the day, and someone had even changed his clothes. “Tony,” the older man greeted him. “Is there something I can do for you?”

His lips twitched as Tony stepped out of the Iron Man armor and he seemed to realize he was several inches taller than the superhero. Tony would have normally gotten annoyed that he’d forgotten his lifts, but he had more pressing matters at the moment.

“Captain Nash, I’m looking for a... friend, and you might be able to help me.”

The man’s eyebrows furrowed in an expression of confusion. “I don’t know how I could,” he started.

“Evan Buckley,”he said before he could say anything else. “I’m pretty sure he’s in your firehouse?”-

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~


	6. Fear Of The Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Tony gets to see his friend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait for the weekend, but decided to just post it. I’m severely sleep deprived atm and don’t know what I’m gonna do, cause I gotta work in like less than four hours and only have two to sleep 😰 I hate everything atm lol oh well, I kinda did it to myself (definitely did) 😓 hope y’all like the chapter, let me know.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Six:** _Fear Of The Water_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~  
 _  
“Some ancient call  
That I've answered before  
It lives in my walls  
And it's under the floor  
If this was meant for me,  
why does it hurt so much?  
And if you're not made for me,  
why did we fall in love?_

_A knock at my door  
I thought I was alone  
Unaware of what I thought I needed  
I drop like a stone  
If I'm not mistaken, then I was the last to know  
And if you return for me, I'd never want for more_

_You're dislocated  
Don't be like that  
And you smile when you dive in  
Like you're never coming back...”_

~Fear Of The Water - SYML

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_30 minutes earlier_

Eddie found Chris and he was overjoyed, the little boy crying out for him and he swept him into his arms. “Oh, Chris! You’re safe, _mijo_. I got you,” he said over and over to reassure him, but mostly it was to reassure himself that his son was safe.

“Dad?”

The man pulled away to look at his son, hand moving over his son’s curly hair, subconsciously making sure he was safe, that he was real. “Yes? What is it?” Eddie asked as he saw the frown on his face.

“Where’s my Buck?” he lip wobbled to indicate the beginning of tears. “We got separated but he saved me. Where is he, dad?”

Eddie felt fear grip his heart when he suddenly remembered the state of his friend and he immediately stood when he realized that Buck hadn’t followed him. “He’s alright, mijo,” he reassured him, but mostly to reassure himself. “He’s the one that found you. Let’s go see him now.”

He hefted the tired little boy into his arms and set off back the way he’d come, from the entrance of the field hospital. His mind kept going over what he’d dismissed before, feeling ashamed to have rushed off before reassuring himself that his best friend was unharmed. There had been scratch marks over his face, blood caking the left side of it, as well as his right hand likely from the makeshift bandage tied around the arm just above his wrist. And Buck was on blood thinners.

The man quickly arrived where he’d seen Buck after walking out of the hospital, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Shit,” he hissed under his breath, so worried that he forgot he had his nine year old impressionable son in his arms.

When he saw the same nurse that had pointed him toward where they were keeping the missing children, he hurried over. “Excuse me, miss? Did you see where my friend went?” He felt his heart starting to race as he imagined everything that might have happened. Maybe he’d suffered another pulmonary embolism from having walked all day on his bad leg, or injured it further. He could have internal bleeding from blunt force trauma due to being hit by the debris in the water, or like that little boy from earlier, delayed secondary downing.

The woman glanced at him in confusion, looking tired and harried so didn’t blame her for not recognizing him even if he’d spoken to her not twenty minutes ago. It was likely she’d attended dozens of patiences or spoken with just as many people looking for missing loved ones in that time. Then he saw recognition register in her brown eyes.

“Oh, yes.. he was rushed inside. He collapsed due to blood loss shortly after you left him,” she told him.

_’... after you left him.’_

Eddie had abandoned Buck and he could be dead right that very moment. “I don... is he.. is he alright?” he choked, trying to keep his voice steady for Chris’s sake.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Some one inside should be able to help you know more.” She turned away. “Excuse me.” Then she moved away without another word. Eddie wanted to feel angry at her dismissive nature, but he understood. There were too many people to help for her to get too invested in someone else’s tragedy, she had to move onto the next one and the next one, over and over again.

A night of never-ending grief and pain and loss. And now Buck might be another one of those tragic losses, and Eddie... Eddie had left him.

“Eddie?”

His head whipped around and he was met with Bobby’s familiar face and he almost collapsed with relief. The man would know what to do, would take charge and tell Eddie what to do, because when faced with losing someone else he cared about, he was frozen.

“What are you doing here?” The man asked. Behind him Hen and Chim and the rest of the 118 were unloading what appeared to be mail trucks of patients. The man put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “What is it? Why is Chris with you? Where’s Buck?”

“He.. he was at the beach.. with Christopher,” he managed to get out.

Bobby’s eyes went wide, and they started to search behind him as if he would see the young man. “Where is he? Eddie, where’s Buck?” he demanded, worry and panic starting to break through the stoic facade he always wore. It almost always cracked whenever the blonde haired young man was in any kind of danger.

“I don’t know. He was here... he was here,” he told him. “The nurse said he collapsed... he collapsed from blood loss.”

The man sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers digging into Eddie’s shoulder so hard that he was sure he would have bruises in the shape of fingers there later. “John, finish helping Marcus and Riley with unloading the patients, Hen and Chimney go inside and find Buck,” he said as he turned at the same time he released Eddie’s shoulder.

When the other two had left, Bobby looked at Eddie and told him to call Maddie while he looked over Chris. Honestly, he’d rather not deal with a hysterical Maddie Buckley, but he guessed he had no choice as he handed over his half-asleep son to Bobby.

“Hey, Maddie, it’s Eddie,” he said, even if he was sure she had his phone number saved. “Listen... something’s happened with Buck.” He winced and held the phone away from his ear before bringing it back. Eddie was sure she would want yell more when she found out Eddie had left him, and since the call center wasn’t that far from the VA hospital she’d be able to scream at him in person, very soon.

Hen and Chim arrived in that moment to tell them about Buck’s condition. It wasn’t good.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_Now_

If it had been any other day, Tony would have been amused by the utter gobsmacked expressions on their faces. He had always enjoyed shocking people, getting them riled up, since it got them thinking instead of being passive aggressive as some tended to be, especially when it came to making decisions. However, right now he wished they’d stop gawking at him and tell him what he wanted to know. “H-he’s here,” Bobby finally managed to get out.

“Tony,” a familiar voice called out before he could shake the information on Evan’s whereabouts out of the taller man. Tony turned and saw that it was Maddie, and it had been even longer since he’d seen her. He hadn’t even gone to her wedding since Doug hadn’t invited him, but not that he would have gone anyways. Tony had detested the man, and always gotten a feeling as if he was hiding something underneath his smarmy smiles.

“Mads!” he exclaimed as the woman rushed him, and it was only because of his years piloting the Iron Man armor that he didn’t get bowled over by the woman. “You’re as lovely as ever, I see.” He pulled back and looked into her face, trying to see the minuscule scars left behind from that douchebag’s last attack on her. “Are you alright?” he asked.

When Doug had taken her, Evan had called him on the road as they tracked her down along with a friend, Athena if he was remembering correctly; an off-duty police sergeant. As it had become morning, Tony had been tempted to fly over and help find her. Unfortunately, there had been an emergency and he’d been unable to go to California, since he had been in New York at the time. He had hated to go while Maddie was in danger, but more lives than just hers had been on the line that day.

He’d actually known Maddie first, and Charles Buckley had even tried to get Tony interested in her, but the two of them had hit it off as friends only. Tony found himself behaving a bit more human while around her and not like a constipated human being that couldn’t properly express human emotion, and she always deflated his ego when it got too big.

Since by the time he was twenty he had two PhDs under his belt and another halfway finished, then he had a reason to have a swelled head. However, Maddie Buckley always, as the British said, took the piss out of him. “Yes, I’m fine,” she waved him off not unkindly, since she seemed preoccupied. Tony didn’t have to guess as to the reason, and hoped Evan wasn’t too injured. He wouldn’t even for a second entertain the idea that he could be dead; never. “I heard you over the radio, but what are you doing here? Are you hurt as well?”

Tony would have to ask her about that later, since Evan was his main concern right now. “I’m looking for Ev, of course,” he chuckled, even if it was strained. “He never could keep out of trouble. First crushed under a ladder truck and now hit by a tsunami.”

Maddie nodded with tears in her eyes, and Tony wondered if she was remembering the helpless feeling of seeing her brother pinned under that truck. He’d seen the video after the fact but even he had felt his heart in his throat, even _knowing_ that Evan was already safe. Tony had even pulled CCTV footage of the actual explosion, and if he wasn’t sure the bomber was serving a fifteen year prison sentence without the hope of parole, he’d have done something drastic. It would have been like when Happy being hurt all over again.

“Well, you know my brother, never a dull moment,” she laughed weakly, a few tears escaping as she brushed them away. She took hold of his hand and both of them then turned to Bobby and the others, which had been staring at the two of them this whole time in surprise. “Bobby, where’s Buck?” Tony reframed from commenting on that ridiculous nickname, which Tony had never, and would never, use.

“Uh,” he hesitated as he looked at Tony before returning his gaze to Maddie. “He’s inside. He had a severe laceration on his arm and lost a lot of blood. They had to give him two blood transfusions. There’s also a lot of swelling on his injured leg, but there luckily doesn’t appear to be another embolism.” His hands clenched at his sides. “We didn’t know he was out there, Maddie.”

Maddie nodded. “I know, Eddie called me,” she told him, not knowing that Bobby was the one that had made him make the call.

As for Tony, he was starting to get impatient the longer they stood there without being able to see for himself that Evan was alright. He must have tightened his hold on her, because she looked at him and then back at Bobby. “We’re going to see my brother.” She pulled Tony along without complaint from him, telling JARVIS to put the suit into sentry mode. Tony sent the other eight suits to recharge. Hammerhead had been damaged when the water had receded and a billboard had fallen and nearly severed one of the arms. Tony hadn’t cared, since JARVIS had done it to save a mother and her kid. He’d sent it back to the lab in Malibu for repairs earlier that day.

It wouldn’t take no more than two hours, but had made sure JARVIS charged Peacekeeper first. It would be the best suit to be used to help the police stop looters and restore order until the National Guard arrived. It was probably doing that right that moment.

They found Evan in the middle of one of the floors on a cot, surrounded by others in various states of injury, and some consciousness or unconsciousness. The two cots on either side of him were empty, so Maddie sat on the one on his right side. As for Tony, he went mostly unnoticed which he was thankful for. It seemed people were either too injured or too busy to pay attention to Tony, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

“Buck,” Maddie whispered, giving Buck’s cheek a gentle caress. The two two large scratch marks across the left side of his face that had been cleaned and obviously disinfected. It was a tricky place to put bandages so they seemed to have been left uncovered, even if the scratches didn’t appear too deep.

Evan sucked in a sharp breath as he flinched before his eyes opened and he saw it was his sister. Tony almost always forgot how clear the blue of his eyes were. “Mads?” he croaked with a confused expression, as if not believing she was there. The lines on his face were accentuated by his exhaustion and the grime that was still on his face despite the best efforts of the medical staff to clean him up some. He’d need a long shower to likely clean all the grime off him.

“Hey there baby brother,” she whispered, ignoring the rest of them. “You gave us quite a scare.” She tried to make her voice lighthearted, but the strain of the situation must have been given away by her expression and the tears she couldn’t hold back. Buck’s face changed to one of pain and grief, knowing it too well. Their parents, but mostly their father, had caused much to her brother especially. He’d always been harder on Buck, being the son and apparent heir.

Maddie had hated to leave him when she married Doug and could admit that she’d done it out of desperation to leave that place. In the process she had abandoned him and she, nor anyone (except maybe Tony to some extent), knew the suffering he’d had to endure during the six years.

And six years of that hell was an eternity.-

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~


	7. A Little Peace Of Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony feels relieved that his friend is safe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this yesterday, but it was the anniversary of my grandmother’s death. I was more pensive than sad, since she’s been gone thirteen years. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss her, but the hurt is a bit easier to bear. I guess time _does_ heals all wounds, but the scar is still left over...

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Seven:** _A Little Peace Of Mind_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“I'm so tired  
I haven't slept a wink  
I'm so tired  
My mind is on the blink  
I wonder, should I get up  
and fix myself a drink?  
No, no, no_

_I'm so tired  
I don't know what to do  
I'm so tired  
My mind is set on you  
I wonder should I call you  
But I know what you would do..._

_You know I'd give you everything  
I've got for a little peace of mind...”_

~I’m So Tired - The Beatles

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Buck looked at his sister with pain and grief, not seeming to realize that either Tony or the rest of the members of the 118 were close by. “I... Mads... Eddie dropped Christopher off with me,” he told her, voice shaking. “He-he thought, you know, doing some actitivities with him would take would-would get me out of my apartment and out of my head.” She reached out to wipe several tears that ran down his face. “Maddie... I brought him to the pier.”

She’d grabbed his hand and now squeezed it, trying not to think of him with Christopher at the pier. It would likely give her nightmares. “And... and I had him. All right, Mads? I-I had him. I-I kept him safe.” He gave a sardonic smile and a forced laugh. “We were, uh... we were on top of a ladder truck, then the water receded... and... then he was gone. I lost Christopher,” he said, a crying mess at that point. Neither Tony or the others could move or say anything as the man poured out his heart to his sister. “I c-checked the emergency refuge camps at the Promenade, at the high school... a cupcakery on Strand,” he said with a hysterical laugh that was more of a sob.

“Oh Evan,” she wept, bringing her other hand over the one she was holding.

“I swear I don’t even remember cutting myself... I j-just... I lost him so I **had** to find him, no matter what. I couldn’t face Eddie until I did, because how could I tell my best friend I lost his son?” He clenched his eyes closed. “He trusted me and I failed him... failed Christopher.”

She smiled past her tears, beyond trying to keep them from falling as they ran down her face. Tony was at the head of his cot out of Evan’s line of sight, and he was content to stay there, now that he saw for himself he was alright. “Evan, look at you, baby brother. You’re a mess. You lost enough blood to need at least two transfusions.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. “And you managed to find him, even being like this. Even if you hadn’t, you did everything you could to find him. You are **not** a failure, Evan Buckley.”

Tony took that moment to reveal himself when he saw Evan about to protest. “You know you’ll never win an argument against her, so don’t even try it. Even I can’t win one and I’m a certified genius,” he said as he stepped into Buck’s line of sight. He laid a hand on Maddie’s shoulder as a sign of support. “And what did I say this morning about staying out of trouble?”

Evan stared up at Tony with wide blue eyes. “Tony? W-what are you doing here?” He frowned. “And you didn’t say anything about keeping out of trouble,” he argued, because of course he would.

Tony stared at him and then looked at Maddie. “Is he kidding?” She shook her head, but there was a bit of a smile on her face. “I’m here to see you. In case you forgot, you were hit with a tsunami, Ev. You were supposed to be safe at home, but I should have known you’d put yourself in the middle of this.” His voice was teasing, but his whiskey brown eyes gave away how worried he’d been. There was a reason he always wore sunglasses, since his eyes were the most expressive part of his face.

Evan licked his dry and cracked lips. “You know, when I said come visit me, I didn’t expect it to be this soon,” he joked, never mind that he was laid up in a field hospital, beat up to hell from a natural disaster.

“Well, how can I not come running when its an invitation from someone as pretty as you,” Tony said with a more relaxed grin, the panic induced worry having subsided a bit. Also, his exhaustion was quickly catching up to him and he felt a bit light headed.

“Ugh, can you two please not flirt over my head?” Maddie said as she threw up her hands. “Honestly, its always the same with you two.”

The other members had heard the whole thing and had been utterly shocked into quiet, and it was finally Chimney that broke the silence. “Buck, you know Tony Stark? And flirt with him?” the man asked incredulously.

The blonde haired man, whose hair was so filthy it looked dark brown at the moment, snorted. He didn’t even seem shocked to see them there, or worrying that they might have heard him and what he’d said to Maddie. “Tony flirts with everyone,” he told the others, seemingly unfazed about them knowing he knew Iron Man. “He once flirted with our 80-year-old grandmother.”

Tony looked offended. “I’ll have you know-” The rest of his sentence was cut off as he suddenly crumpled as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. If it wasn’t for Bobby’s quick reflexes, the billionaire would have hit the floor.

Evan sat up in alarm, blue eyes wide in shock and one arm around his mid-section where he had a contusion from being knocked around when he’d been hit with the first wave. “Is he okay?! Did he get hurt?” His face was screwed up in pain and Maddie forced him to lay back down, but only did when Bobby, with the help of Hen and Chim, had laid Tony onto the empty cot next to his.

“Check him for any injuries,” Bobby said to Hen and Chim.

However, before either could move to comply, the sound of heavy footsteps interrupted them, and moments later the Iron Man armor clanked into view. _’I’m sorry, Captain Nash, but I’m going to have to ask you to step away from Mr. Stark,’_ a mechanized British voice came from the suit.

Bobby and the rest of them held out their hands in a universal sign of surrender, but took it as a good sign that the armor hadn’t lifted it’s hands. They’d seen enough footage of the Iron Man in action (whether from YouTube videos or news footage) to know that’s where the blasts he fired came from.

Bobby remembered hearing Tony talking to someone by the name Jarvis, and wondered if this was that person. Perhaps they were operating the armor from another location. “Jarvis was it?” The other didn’t answer but the armor had come to stop beside the cot they’d put Tony in. Now people were starting to take notice of Tony. “We just want to help him, make sure he isn’t hurt,” Bobby told him.

_‘There is no need. Mr. Stark has sustained no injury. His collapse was caused by extreme fatigue. I will take him now and proceed back to the tower.’_

Bobby made a face at that, since they all knew what tower he was talking about; Stark Tower, which was in New York. That was a long trip, even in a suit that could go at high speeds. “Or,” Maddie said as she stood up slowly, “you could take him to my house. I have an air mattress from when Evan was staying with me.”

The Iron Man armor turned to look at her, and it was a bit unsettling knowing it wasn’t Tony in there moving it around. _‘Madeline Buckley, you are a trusted person. This is acceptable. Although, I will inform his medical proxy of his location in case he needs any medical assistance.’_

Maddie nodded. “Of course, now is it alright to have my boyfriend Howie Han and his partner Henrietta Wilson get him out to my car?” She wouldn’t be able to get him out of here without some kind of help.

 _‘That is acceptable,’_ Jarvis informed her.

Her eyes snapped to Buck as he tried to sit up again. “And what do you think you’re doing?”

Evan groaned as he swung his legs over the side of the cot. “I’m going with you, of course,” he said. As he straightened, his gaze caught with Eddie’s and saw Christopher in his arms. The boy seemed to be fast asleep and Buck felt relief fill him. It was one thing to be told he was safe and another to actually see if for himself. “Chris...”

Eddie stepped closer, the man trying to squash the... annoyance he was feeling ever since he’d heard Tony freaking Stark say Buck’s name (and flirting with him, but he wouldn’t delve too much into that right now). Who, apparently, called him by his first name, as well as a nickname that wasn’t the one they were all used to; Ev he’d called him. Eddie couldn’t describe exactly why this bothered him. “He’s fine... Buck,” he said, hoping he didn’t notice his hesitation.

The man didn’t seem to notice, but he saw Bobby eye him in his peripheral but decided to ignore it for now. “I’m glad,” Buck gasped, his eyes red as if it was taking everything in him to keep from crying. He’d seen how vulnerable Buck had been with Maddie and Eddie had never seen him lose so much control. It burned a bitterness in his throat, especially wondering if Stark had ever seen Buck this vulnerable.

Then the man was grunting as he forced himself to his feet. “Wait, Buck,” Eddie said as Bobby jerked forward as Buck swayed. The man’s parental instincts always kicked into overhear whenever Buck was involved. Eddie at times wondered if Buck reminded him of the son he’d lost, but had never had to balls to ask. There were some things you didn’t ask Bobby Nash, and one of those things was about the children he’d lost. “You should stay. You’re still hurt.”

The blonde man shook his head, Eddie’s lips thinning with a frown that he seemed so intent on accompanying Tony that he was disregarding his own health. “I’m fine, and besides, there are other more seriously injured people that need this bed.”

“Man, why you gotta be so stubborn?” Eddie snapped, quieting down when Chris gave a sleepy moan and shifted in his arms. “I’m sure... Iron Man’s friend can take care of him.” He indicated the suit. “He doesn’t need an escort.”

Buck was looking at him with a confused frown, and Eddie knew he was being unreasonable, but he was irritated. Eddie had almost lost Chris, and then realized that he had also almost lost his best friend as well. It was a combination of everything that was fueling his annoyance; from the dismissive nurse even if he knew he shouldn’t, and realizing he’d left Buck alone while injured. Also, having been yelled at by Maddie after she’d relayed Buck’s condition to her over the phone.

That hadn’t been a fun conversation, but he’d felt a bit vindicated that he’d managed to calm her down. Maddie was never easily calmed when it came to Buck’s safety, and that was especially true after the bombing incident. And she was a force to be reckoned with. So, he’d been a bit irritated with how easily the woman had spoken with Tony, how even Buck had easily bantered with Tony Stark; flirted with him even.

“I know JARVIS can protect him,” he told Eddie even as he stood despite everyone telling him to lay back down. “I’d just feel better knowing someone with a physical body was there to watch over Tony.” He glanced at the suit with a stiff smile, likely because he was in pain; stubborn bastard. “No offense, J.”

 _‘No offense taken, Mr. Buckley,’_ the British voice told him. _‘It would be reassuring to have both of you watching over sir.’_

“Are you sure you’ll have enough room at your place?” Bobby asked. “You could all come over to my house. I have plenty of room. Michael has May and Harry over at his place and Athena is on shift.”

Buck didn’t say anything to oppose the idea, since he’d been over plenty of times, especially during his recovery following the two surgeries on his leg. It almost felt like a second home, well third, since Eddie’s house was practically his second home. As for Maddie, she wasn’t too sure. “I don’t know... I mean, as long as J doesn’t have a problem with it.”

 _‘I’ll just need the address to make sure it’s safe and secure,’_ he told Bobby.

The man and JARVIS conversed on the ‘security measures’ that had to be taken. Meanwhile, Maddie helped her brother into a wheelchair despite his protests, while Hen and Chim maneuvered Tony onto a second wheelchair, since it’d be easier to get him into Maddie’s car that way. As for Buck, his Jeep was likely completely totaled since it’d been in the parking lot of the pier when the tsunami hit. So, he would have to ride with his sister.

Eddie asked to come along since he wanted to get Chris home but he didn’t have his vehicle. So, it was a tight fit in the car with Buck, Tony and Chris in the back and Eddie riding shot gun.

“Guess we’re having a big sleepover,” Buck giggled, groaning as it caused him some discomfort. Eddie glanced back at him and almost wished he hadn’t, since Tony was slumped against the taller man, head resting on his shoulder and he hated to admit that they made for a good-looking couple. Buck hadn’t dated since Eddie had known him, since the thing with Abby was finished by the time he came along (despite Buck’s denials), and the thing with that reporter hadn’t been an actual relationship.

Now, he was seeing the man being cozy with another, a man even, and Eddie wasn’t liking it one bit. He just couldn’t (or wouldn’t admit) as to why that was. After all, they were friends, and he convinced himself —not too successfully— that it was because he was used to having all of Buck’s attention, that he didn’t know what to do now that Tony was in the picture.

Apparently, he’d been in the picture longer than Eddie had known Buck.

“I’m not letting you two out of my sight,” Maddie grumbled, looking at her brother through the rear view mirror.

Buck snorted and Eddie bit his lip to keep from saying anything stupid, and that sounded jealous.

Because, nope, he wasn’t jealous at all.-

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~


	8. Til The Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up, confused on where he is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I know, it’s late and I have no excuses. I’m cold darn it. At least it ain’t snowing anymore lol Check out my Ig to see how much snow my car had, which I had to scrape all off while it was still snowing, and it was a wet snow too ugh i had an umbrella but my jacket still got soaked lol trying cramping snow with one hand, it’s hard. It took me 15 mins, probably longer heh oh well, it’s the first snow of the year and hopefully the last. I don’t know how people in the northern parts of the country do it tbh, y’all champs, seriously lol lemme know how y’all like the chapter (which is a bit longer this time).
> 
>  **Edit:** Why don’t anyone tell me I put eastern time instead of pacific lol

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Eight:** _Til The Morning_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“Take me home, take me home  
I'll be yours till the morning  
Then leave without warning  
So take me home_

_Call me please, call me please  
Oh I can't wait forever  
You know better  
So call me please_

_Leave me be, leave me be  
You had your chance already  
Someone else, I go steady  
So leave me be…”_

~Til The Morning - Bahamas

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony groaned as his eyes opened, frowning as he tried to remember when he’d gone to sleep. The last thing he recalled was frantically looking—

He shot up in the bed he was laying in as he suddenly remembered Evan, looking around frenetically for the man. The room was dark but sunlight was starting to come in through the partially closed curtains. Where the hell was he anyways?

The billionaire decided that was something for later as he swung his legs out of the bed, fumbling with the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed he was in. When the semi-dark room was bathed in light, he was met with the room that could only belong to a teenage boy. Well, what he imagined it would look like for a normal teenage boy, since his room had looked nothing like this. Then again, he hadn’t exactly been normal. Besides, by the time he was fifteen, he was living in the MIT dorms with Rhodey as his roommate.

He quickly spotted his phone on the same nightstand as the lamp, as well as his Bluetooth. Tony quickly shoved it into his ear. “JARVIS, you up?” He wasn’t sure if it still had any battery, since it had been a terribly long day yesterday. At least, he hoped it was yesterday, since there was no telling how long he’d been out.

 _‘For you, sir, always,’_ the AI’s familiar voice spoke in his ear.

He sighed as some of his panic subsided, but there was still the matter of Evan’s whereabouts. He’d be worried about Maddie, but she’d been perfectly unharmed, and wondered if she’d been at a hospital away from the affected zone. Tony was ashamed to admit that he’d never thought to ask Evan about what she was doing, he’d just sensed that it was something Evan had been hesitant to mention. Although he’d gotten the gist of why she was in L.A. without Doug.

“How long have I been out, J? Where’s the suit, and where the hell am I?” he stood and stretched, feeling sort of rested, but not much. Well, he was use to it, since even after the Mandarin incident, he didn’t sleep too well. Even if he’d told Pepper that he would do better, that didn’t stop the nightmares, the panic attacks, and he knew it was PTSD. After all, if it walked like a duck and all that, well...

He’d just never been one to do the normal thing when one had trauma, which was go to therapy. Tony could just see his business slashed all over the newspapers. It had always been like that, even as a kid and now being Iron Man, it was ten times worse. At times he wished he’d just done what Colson (and Fury) had wanted and kept his identity as Iron Man a secret, since things would have been so much easier. Then he’d thought of the destruction that had happened, the fighter jet he’d destroyed, the vehicles that had been damaged in his fight with Iron Monger, and knew he couldn’t hide. He had to take responsibility, be held accountable for his actions; both in and out of the suit.

_‘It is currently 5:25am Pacific Time, and you’ve been asleep for three hours, sir. The Mark 33 is stationed in the backyard in sentry mode and every other suit besides Peacekeeper which is still helping the police, have been charged and helping rescue workers mostly recover the dead at this point. Also, you are located in Robert Grant Nash’s residence.’_

Tony paused as he was looking for his shoes, stopping as he’d bent down to search under the bed. “I’m at Cap’s house?” he asked incredulously. He bet there was a story there, but he had more pressing matters. “J, where’s Evan?”

_‘Mr. Buckley is asleep at this very moment in the room next to this one.’_

Tony forwent looking for his shoes and padded out of the room in his socks and headed into the room next to the one he’d woken up in. If he was at Bobby’s house, that meant the beds belonged to his kids. He hoped he hadn’t taken anyone’s bed from them.

For now he walked to the door next to the one he was in, knocking lightly in case Evan was asleep. When there was no response, he cracked open the door and peeked inside. He knew it was a huge invasion of privacy, but he just wanted to see that Evan was there and unharmed and then he would go. Whether that was back to the room he’d woken up in or not, well, he hadn’t decided yet.

He saw the man’s 6’2 frame on a bed and what he could see of the sheets and the rest of it room, this was a teenaged girl’s bedroom. From here he could tell he was sleeping peacefully and he sighed in relief. He knew about nightmares after a traumatic experience and it was good that Evan didn’t appear to be having any.

Tony quietly closed the door and moved away from the room, and finally decided that he wanted some coffee. He realized that this was because he could smell it, and it was gourmet too. Oh, someone in this house knew what good coffee was and wasn’t afraid to spend the money for it. Apparently some people were satisfied with that cheap instant kind, the uncultured fools.

He hoped he didn’t look too ragged or smell rank after spending the all yesterday and last night in the same clothes. Tony told JARVIS to order him some simple clothes to be delivered to Bobby’s residence. His AI told him that it, as well as some toiletries would be delivered within the hour. Hopefully he’d be able to get a cup or two of that coffee and perhaps beg off their hospitality for a piece of toast and some eggs.

Tony came into the kitchen to find Bobby Nash leaning against the counter, looking exhausted in his grubby LAFD uniform. There was a cup of coffee in his hand and his eyes were closed, and Tony wondered if he’d fallen asleep like that. Poor guy was likely ready to collapse, especially if he’d just gotten in.

“As much as I hate to wake you up, because you look bone weary, but I refuse to let you waste good coffee,” he told him, since the cup looked moments away from slipping out of his hand.

Bobby jerked awake as his fingers tightened on the coffee cup, and it was either not too full or already halfway drunk, but none of it thankfully sloshed over the side to spill on the man’s hand. “Tony,” the man greeted, but was interrupted by a face cracking yawn before he could say more.

“You look how I feel most mornings after a forty-eight hour binge in the lab working on a deadline for SI,” he chuckled. The man sighed as he ran a hand through his short hair, and was, as always, reminded a little bit of Howard. This man exuded the sternness the man had possessed, but none of the coldness. There was a softness that tempered the steel underneath, and Tony found himself liking Bobby more and more.

“You shouldn’t be awake,” he told Tony. He waved him on when he asked if he could have a cup of coffee. “It’s only been three hours since you collapsed.” He could feel the man’s eyes on him as he found a cup with his instructions and then poured himself some much needed coffee.

“Yeah, well, one learns to live on little to no sleep when we’re in this line of work,” he said, taking a large gulp of the coffee and not caring as it burned his tongue. That was definitely some great coffee. “What about you? You look like something the cat dragged in, chewed up, threw up, and then chewed up again.”

Bobby chuckled as he nodded. “I feel like it too,” he admitted. He took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, and Tony wondered how long he’d been leaning against that counter, battling his eyelids that kept trying to close.

“Well, is there any particular reason you’re not heading up for a shower and some much deserved rest?” He lifted the cup and took a more measured sip. “Or is it the unexpected guests in your home that’s preventing you from getting some rest?”

He knew some people would likely not feel comfortable sleeping while there was a stranger in their house. Tony would happily leave if that was the case, with no hard feelings. Bobby Nash was a man Tony could learn to respect, did respect after seeing him in action last night, so wouldn’t hold it against him if Tony was making him uncomfortable. The man had likely not intended for some strange billionaire to take up one of his kid’s beds.

Bobby blinked at him confused for a moment until his sluggish brain caught on to what he was saying. “No, that’s not it,” he said firmly. “I offered my home in the first place, and it would be pretty hypocritical to then have a problem with it.” He paused to yawn once again. “I’m actually waiting for my wife to get off her shift before turning in,” he admitted. “I told her that you were sleeping in Harry’s bed, but I’m not sure she quite believed me. So, I’m glad you’re up and she can see you with her own eyes.”

“Or, we can take a selfie together and send it to her?” Tony said with a mischievous grin.

Bobby straighten and stretched with a groan as he checked his watch. “No, she should be home in the next few minutes,” he said. As he grabbed his phone, it gave a tweet and Tony gave it a curious look.

“Is that her?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t being nosy.

“No... it’s... an reminder,” he mumbled. “But I don’t know if I’ll still be expected to go. The hospital was in the flooding zone.”

“The hospital? Are you sick or something, Cap?” The thought of a man like Bobby Nash could be sick, who risked his life every day for the people of this city didn’t sit well with him. He quickly typed out a message to JARVIS to make a new fund for service women and men that were battling cancer, as well as other physical and mental illnesses.

“Oh no, I uh,” he paused and looked down like he was embarrassed by something. “I donate blood once every three weeks. I’m, um, part of the rare donors program.”

Tony blinked in surprise, since he was expecting anything except that. “Oh yeah? Like, you’re O negative or something?”

Bobby shook his head from side to side. “Uh no, rare type of blood that has the ability to cure rhesus disease, actually,” he murmured.

Tony had a few doctorates but none of them were in medicine. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

The older man shook his head. “It isn’t. I read up on it and... it’s, well, not many fetuses that are affect survive.”

Tony leaned against the counter with his cup in hand with a bit of a crooked smile. “So, your blood has the ability to save babies? And you’re a firefighter?” He shook his head and drank the rest of his coffee and reached for the pot again. “You’re full of surprises, Cap.”

“If you say so,” he told him, grunting in affirmative when Tony offered to top off his cup once again. “But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go with the hospital being in the flood zone, and after the shift I’ve had, I’m likely to sleep for a whole day I think.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can help you with, let me know. It’s the least I can do for the hospitality you’ve shown me.”

They drank their coffees in a comfortable silence, and maybe Tony was too tired to ramble as he usually did. It could be that he just felt at ease in the man’s presence, which would be something unheard of for him when it came to someone he’d just met the other day.

“I meant to ask,” Tony said, remembering one of their meetings. “Did you ever find that Captain... Cooper?” He hoped he got the name right, since last night had been one long hour after another for him to be able to remember everyone’s names.

Bobby sighed and once more ran a hand through his short hair and Tony feared the worst, regretting having brought it up. “Yeah, they found him,” he said, voice sounding weary. “He was brought in before either of us got there... minus one of his arms, unfortunately.”

Tony grimaced and looked down at his coffee, wishing he had his sunglasses with him. One of the reasons he always wore them was that he’d been told that his eyes were very expressive. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He paused as he remembered the female firefighter that had been rescuing people at the Ferris wheel. “The woman that was with you at the peer where we first met, she’s from his firehouse, isn’t she?”

He couldn’t remember the station number at the moment, but he _did_ remember that it had been a different one from the ones Bobby and Diaz had. Bobby nodded. “Lena Bosko, a firefighter of station 136.” His lips lifted a bit in slight amusement. “A stubborn but very capable firefighter.”

The shorter man’s eyebrow lifted in question. “I could tell she was pretty capable from the little I saw her work, but why stubborn?”

“She had two broken ribs, and still wanted to keep on going.”

Tony was quiet for a moment, continuing to enjoy the coffee. “Yeah, I know about continuing on with broken ribs... it’s not an experience I hope to repeat.”

There was what he could be shock, or maybe horror, on his face and he opened his mouth to say something. However, before Bobby could respond, they heard the door open and then footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Bobby?” Tony heard a woman’s voice. “What’s this about Tony Stark sleeping in Harry’s bed?” He heard the amusement in her voice, but then saw that same amusement fade from her face as she came around the corner and caught sight of Tony, who gave her a cheeky little wave with his fingers.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “Sadly, that is true. I’m the terrible person that took poor Harry’s bed.” He took another sip of the coffee, resisting the urge to moan, since it wouldn’t be proper. It was just that he loved good coffee. “You already know who I am, but I don’t know your name.”

“Ah... Athena Grant,” she said, and saw as she and Bobby shared a look. “Well, Nash now.” Tony sensed there was a story there, but knew it wasn’t one he was entitled to, so he didn’t ask.

“Well, I am very charmed to meet you, Mrs. Nash,” he said.

“Please, call me Athena.”

“If you call me Tony.”

Bobby looked between them. “Should I be worried? I remember Buck saying you flirt with anyone.”

Tony nodded with a bit of a smile curving his lips. “Well, Evan is right,” he supplied easily. “I see attractive people and I just... flirt.” He looked like he wanted to shrug, aborted the movement half way and cleared his throat. “I can admit it’s gotten me into a fair share of... altercations.”

“How is their 80-year-old grandmother attractive to you?”

Tony snorted a laugh, having forgotten that Evan had brought it up... or had that been Maddie? He was a bit fussy about what had happened after he arrived at the field hospital and assured himself of Evan’s safety. “Their grandmother was a nurse during World War 2 and knew my dad. He was like eighteen at the time, and it was nice to hear about him being that young.” He refrained from saying that he wanted to hear about a time when he wasn’t such a cold human being. The stern, unforgiving man he’d grown up with.

His head titled as he looked at the woman. “You’re a police sergeant, right?” he asked the dark skinned woman. The short hair style she had suited her face very well.

The woman eyed him carefully, her stance changing to wariness. “Has my husband been talking about me?” she asked him instead of likely demanding how he knew that.

Tony shook his head negatively. “Uh no, Evan told me, actually. He mentioned you during the incident where Maddie was... kidnapped by that abusive asshole. He actually called me just before he went off in search of her with you and kept me updated through text messages.”

“So that’s who that boy kept texting during that time. I’d always assumed it was Eddie,” she chuckled.

Tony gave that aborted shrug with his shoulders as he lifted his cup to his mouth. “Well, he could have been texting us both,” he suggested, not voicing how much that thought bothered him. Tony didn’t have the right to be bothered, since what he and Evan had at one point was over. Besides, at the time of this, he’d been dating Pepper, so he had no right to feel... well, whatever he was feeling, it certainly wasn’t jealousy.

Not at all.-


	9. Banana Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony had woken up in Bobby Nash’s home and was asked to stay for banana pancakes, and strangely, he did...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’ve decided to post one chapter per month due to my rl schedule, and it can be this story or another. So, yeah. Mostly cause I’ve exhausted myself creatively and emotionally, and I need to just take things a bit more slowly. So, that’s what I’m doing. One chapter a month, on what story is to be determined on what story appeals to me at the time. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy this chapter.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Nine:** _Banana Pancakes_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“Can't you see that it's just rainin'  
Ain't no need to go outside_

_But baby  
You hardly even notice  
When I try to show you this  
Song is meant to keep you  
Doin' what you're supposed to  
Wakin' up too early  
Maybe we could sleep in  
Make you banana pancakes  
Pretend like its the weekend now  
We could pretend it all the time  
Can't you see that it's just rainin'  
There ain't no need to go outside...”_

~Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony would usually have left by now, not wanting to overstay his welcome, but he’d been convinced to stay. He’d mostly stayed because Evan was still out and he wanted to wait for him to wake up. Also, because Athena had insisted that after a few hours of sleep, she’d make her world famous banana pancakes. And really, how could Tony say no to banana pancakes?

That’s how he ended up sitting in Athena and Bobby’s living room by himself as he flipped through the channels they had. He wasn’t use to just sitting around doing nothing, felt the inactivity like an itch under his skin he couldn’t quite scratch. Tony needed to do something or he was going to start taking apart the appliances, and he was sure that wouldn’t be a good way to show his gratitude to his generous hosts; even if he was sure he’d improve their television.

Tony knew he had to do something to occupy his time, and he wondered if Athena and Bobby would mind if he brought Hammerhead here to weld its arm back on. He knew that JARVIS could easily do it but he liked working with his hands, and it’s what he needed right then. The man needed to feel like he was doing something, instead of just sitting there.

He was just about to have J bring the suit there, carrying its arm if needed be, when he heard a door open from further in the house. Tony was sure it couldn’t be Athena or Bobby, since after Athena had checked on Buck, they’d gone to bed not even two hours ago (he was amazed he’d managed to sit still that long in front of the TV) so knew it couldn’t be them.

He watched the front door, since he could see it from there and shook his head that the hallways leading to the bedrooms was right next to the front door. It was a security nightmare, even if Athena was a police sergeant, since he knew the police were often targeted due to their job. Well, if someone was planning on trying to loot the house today, they’d find more than they bargained for, namely a repulsor to the face as he saw the suit in the backyard turn toward the direction Tony was looking toward.

Tony only relaxed when he saw Evan’s familiar frame come shuffling into view, not even having to order J to stand down as it recognized the man as someone Tony trusted. “You’re supposed to be in bed,” he told him, seeing as he was holding his midsection with a pained expression on his face.

Evan’s gaze snapped toward Tony immediately. “Tony? You’re still here?” He moved in his direction and soon he was carefully sliding into the couch beside him.

“I’m hurt, Ev. Did you want me to not be here?” he asked with mock offense. The other was warm from having been under the blankets, needing them since apparently the Nash (Nash-Grant?) household was kept at a cool 50 degrees Fahrenheit. “It’s not like I traveled 2,838 miles to get here after all,” he said as he sniffed dramatically.

Evan gave an exasperated huff, not even bothering to straighten up where he was slumped against him. “You flew, so I’m sure it didn’t take you that long,” he said with a smirk. His head came to rest against him, and Tony knew it was Evan’s way of seeking comfort without outright saying he needed it. Tony was emotionally constipated as well, where he knew he had feelings, but didn’t necessarily like to talk about them and all the messiness that came with having them.

So, he indulged him and also leaned against him, tilting his head to rest against Evan’s own where it was resting on his shoulder. After the brutality of yesterday and then the panic-induced fear of thinking Evan could have been killed, it felt nice to have his solid weight at his side.

“You know, you aren’t allowed to die,” Tony told the other quietly. He didn’t normal like to talk of feelings, but knew he needed to say something. Besides, he’d learned a bit on how to express some of those feelings due to Pepper. “And call me if you need me for anything, or if you’re in trouble. I’ll be here as fast as I can.”

Evan reached over and grabbed onto his hand, intertwining their fingers. “Well, the same goes for you,” Evan told him. “When that terrorist blew up your house, you think I didn’t...” His fingers tightened around Tony’s hand that was as calloused as his, both for different reasons. “Just don’t go challenging terrorists anymore. You might be a superhero, but you’re not invincible, Tony.”

Tony gave a dignified sniff. “I think you mean Iron Man,” he said with a mock haughty voice.

They grinned at each other, leaning against one another in a show of comfort and support. Evan didn’t tell Tony he couldn’t be Iron Man because it was too dangerous, and Tony didn’t tell Evan to not be a firefighter because he didn’t want him to run into a burning building while others were running out. They knew that they didn’t do what they did because they wanted recognition, but because they loved what they did. It was also due to the people that needed to be saved.

Because it was their purpose in life, and they accepted it of one another.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he was suddenly aware of a crink in his neck. He tried to lift his hand to rub it and found that it was being held. His eyes snapped open and he realized that Evan had also fallen asleep leaning against him. He was also apparently still holding Tony’s hand.

He heard another sound, which is what had woken him up he realized, and saw Maddie standing in front of them with her phone up. “Did you just take our picture?” he grumbled, seeing the smirk on her pretty face.

“Blackmail material,” she said as she turned off her phone screen and walked away. “Athena’s making banana pancakes. Better come get some before they’re all gone,” she told them. He realized that Evan was awake, but hadn’t let his hand go (not that Tony was much better). Also, there were more people inside the house than before, some children from what he could hear.

It wasn’t that cold, so they hadn’t been cold from having fallen asleep uncovered on the couch. It was late Summer, almost Autumn, and besides, L.A. never got cold. Tony was accustomed to both climates, having been born in New York and grown up with those harsh winters until he’d been shipped off to boarding school at the age of ten. It had been both a blessing and a curse, since it had been the first indication that his father wanted him as far away as possible.

The blessing part was being able to finish all the curriculum in four and a half years, thus being able to go to MIT at the age of 15. That’s where he’d met Rhodey and they’d become fast friends, thick as thieves; lifelong friends. It’s why he’d studied as hard as he did, since Rhodey only had two more years left, and then he would be off to the Air Force. So, Tony had broken records on getting a PhD, and not to mention that he’d already started to accumulate credits while at boarding school.

So by the time he turned 17, he’d already gotten his first PhD and Rhodey had been the first to call him Dr. Tony. He’d refused to be called that ever again and always had people call him just Tony. It was a given that he’d worked his ass off for the title, but it had given him the creeps when Rhodey had said it. So, no Dr. Stark, and definitely no Dr. Tony.

There were some that still insisted on using it, but they were few and far in between. Hell, there were some people that forgot he even had three PhDs (what can he say, he was an overachiever). And it was alright with him, because then people underestimated him and Tony used it to his advantage.

“Wha’ happened?” Evan asked sleepily, eyes half-lidded, and Tony just wanted to kiss his sleepy face it was so adorable.

Tony settled for poking his cheek, which was worth the effort as Evan grumbled and batted at his hand half-heartedly. The pout he made was adorable, and no one as big and tall as Evan had any right to be that adorable. “Get up, we have to go steal your sister’s phone, and eat banana pancakes... not necessarily in that order,” Tony told him.

Evan gave a jaw cracking yawn as he stretched, realized he was still holding Tony’s hand and let it go with a sheepish grin at the older man. Tony for his part rolled his eyes and regretted the loss of contact, but kept that to himself. “Do we have to? She might murder us if we do.”

Tony nodded. “You might get murdered, sure,” he said with a straight face. “But that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

The blonde man scoffed and shoved him playfully. “Jerk,” he laughed. They stood and headed toward the sound of voices, Evan nudging his shoulder with his, almost like he was making sure Tony was really there. After all, this was the first time they’d seen each other in years, but they’d fallen back into their regular banter as easy as breathing. He’d say as easy as riding a bicycle, but Tony had told him once that his dad had never taught him so he didn’t know how to ride a bike.

Evan had promised that he’d teach him one day, but it had never worked out. He wondered if Tony even remembered Evan’s promise to teach him. Maybe he should finally keep it? It was a thought for later.

They were greeted with a kitchen full of people, with Bobby and Athena at the stove making the bacon, eggs and pancakes, whose aroma had filled the whole room. Tony felt his stomach grumble and hadn’t realized how hungry he was until that moment. He remembered that the last thing he’d eaten was the rations in between the search for people, yesterday.

“Good afternoon,” Athena called as she held out a plate of pancakes toward Tony. “You’re just in time to try my banana pancakes before they’re all gone.” There were several kids at the table, two boys, and a teenage girl, as well as other people he didn’t recognize already eating.

“Uh,” Tony started, hands clenching at his sides. He was about to say something when a large hand reached for the plate and grabbed it, and he threw Evan a grateful smile. It had been years but he still remembered that Tony didn’t like to be handed things. He motioned to one of the open seats at the table, and Tony sat down as Evan set the plate on the table in front of him. “Thanks.”

Evan grinned and nodded, and then went to get his own plate. There was already a pitcher of something to drink in the middle of the table, so Tony grabbed it as well as one of the cups already next to it and poured some. It was orange juice.

“Are you Iron Man?” a little boy with a puffy mane of curly hair asked. He looked to be eight or nine years old. His skin was light and he looked to be mixed blood, and beside him was another boy with darker skin and also waiting for Tony’s answer.

“So I’ve been told,” he said with a grin, seeing as they started to whisper between them. Kids were so curious.

“Can we see your armor?” the darker skinned boy asked.

“Ah, let Tony eat in peace, Harry,” Athena chastised as she came over and set a plate full of crispy bacon in the middle of the table.

“It’s alright,” Tony said with a smile. He turned to Harry and the other boy. “How about this, after we all eat, we can go outside and see my armor?”

“Cool!”

“Awesome!”

They took up their forgotten forks and started to eat quickly. “You’re going to regret that,” the woman chuckled, setting down a fork next to his plate as well as a plate with several pieces of toast.

“Nah,” he said with a grateful nod as he picked up the fork. “The kids are the future, so it’s our duty to encourage their enthusiasm and curiosity.” He put several pieces of bacon on his plate, which he cut into pieces. “I don’t mind at all.”

Athena made a noise, which was either surprise or agreement, and then moved back to her husband’s side. Tony gave a smile at Evan as he sat next to him, having taken the place of the teenage girl that had finished her breakfast before Tony and the two boys. They ate in accompanying silence, both ravenous after their ordeal the day before, and also what awaited them today as well. There would be relief efforts that involved cleaning up the affected areas, as well as the important task of recovering the bodies of the dead.

As they ate, there was a knocking at the door and a bald African-American man jumped up from one of the nearby seats. “That must be Eddie and Chris,” he muttered as he walked toward the door. Evan perked up at his side and Tony tried not to react, since as he’d said before, he had no right to be jealous. Because what he had once had with Evan was long over, and he was his friend now, and nothing more.

The Hispanic man entered with the little boy wobbling in on his crutches, watching him as he gave a happy squeal as he was lifted by the man and carried down the steps. He set him down and then took Eddie hand in a greeting. “Hey, Michael,” he said.

“Come in,” he said in return. Meanwhile, Chris had tottered over toward the table where Harry and Denny (as Chris had called him) greeted him.

“Bucky!” he cheered as Evan turned in his seat and accepted a hug from the little boy.

“Hey, Superman, good to see you.”

“Tony,” Chris greeted next, and Tony was surprised as he was given the same hug. He awkwardly lifted a hand and patted the kid’s hair. While he was certainly a futurist and thought kids were the future, but that didn’t mean he knew how to interact with them.

He saw Evan giving him an amused look, and Tony flashed him a mock glare. As Eddie approached the table, Evan hopped up. “I’m finished, you can have my seat,” he told the Hispanic man.

Before Eddie could protest, mouth opening seemingly to do just that, he moved away with his now empty plate and to the sink. Athena waved him away when he tried to wash it. So, he left the kitchen instead to get washed up, and maybe some of his stuff was still around so he could change clothes, having spent a lot of time here while in recovery.

Harry, Denny (after Tony promised them to show them the suit after he finished eating) went off to where Tony and Evan had fallen asleep on the couch and started playing on the game console there. So, Tony and Eddie were left at the table with Chris happily eating banana pancakes, all the while making little happy noises that made Tony smile in amusement.

He caught Eddie’s eye and the smile wiped from his face, feeling awkward and not knowing what to say to him. They hadn’t been properly introduced, but then he had never let that stop him. Besides, he was Tony fucking Stark, and he did what he wanted.

“Tony Stark,” he said, holding out a hand, “but I’m sure you already know that.”

Eddie paused a moment to lay his fork down and took his hand. “Eddie Diaz,” he said, even if Tony already knew. “My son told me that you saved him, and I wanted to thank you.”

Tony nodded as he released his hand. “Well, it was my pleasure,” he said, glancing at the kid in question. “A hell of a kid you have there. Especially since the first thing he said to me when I asked his name was that he wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers.”

That surprised a laugh out of the man, that lifted a hand to his mouth to show that he hadn’t meant to do so. Then again, Tony had always been a person that shocked or surprised others. “Yeah, he uh... he surprises me everyday,” Eddie admitted.

It felt like a moment between them, and Tony didn’t think he liked that. Frankly, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the man that Buck seemed to be in love with, even if he was glad that that Abby woman was out of the picture.

“He’s... a good kid,” he told Eddie, and then picked up his fork to signal the end of their conversation. Eddie seemed content to end it as well. Maybe he didn’t like Tony either, and Tony wondered if he felt anything for Evan.

That meant he wasn’t as straight as Evan believed. If so, they’d be a problem for Tony.-


	10. In My Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is still at the Bobby and Athena’s house, but now something else comes up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, I’m disregarding canon as well as the timeline, for every show and movie that gets added. Not that I plan on having a whole lot. It’ll only be the MCU and 9-1-1 universes crossing over. Of course, there are many many characters and timelines and stories within those two universes. I decided to post this a few days earlier since there’s a winter storm and I’m not working and I’m bored. So, let me know what y’all think.

**If The World Was Ending  
Chapter Ten:** _In My Life_

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

_“There are places I'll remember  
All my life though some have changed  
Some forever, not for better  
Some have gone and some remain_

_All these places have their moments  
With lovers and friends I still can recall  
Some are dead and some are living  
In my life I've loved them all...”_

~In My Life - The Beatles

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony finished his meal quickly, feeling pleasantly full and it had been a while since he’d eaten so good. Tony usually forgot to eat when he was on one of his inventing binges, or got into the rhythm of making or assembling a piece of armor.

He’d had a nice chat with Michael, who was an architect and had bachelors degree in architectural engineering. While he wasn’t on par to Tony, and of a different type of engineer, he had a good mind and the conversation wasn’t lacking. It had almost been a shame when he’d had to leave, which is why decided to finally finish the rest of his food as he drank the rest of the juice in his cup.

“Alright,” he said as he stood. He saw that Chris had already finished, and he wondered how people ate so fast, even Evan had eaten quickly. Tony supposed that he was used to eating fast before he was interrupted by that bell. It could also have been the conversation with Michael that had kept his mouth occupied.

“Did you want to go see the armor? I promised Denny and Harry to show them.”

Chris perked up with an excited grin before he paused and looked at his dad with his big doe eyes. Eddie wanted to say no, realized he was being irrational and that he couldn’t take away this opportunity because he was ~~jealous~~ annoyed that Buck had gone with Tony despite Eddie wanting him to be at the hospital where they could care for him.

“Sure, _mijo_ ,” he told him, and enjoyed the happy squeal that left him. At least, he did until he watched Chris and Tony walk away, the man matching his son’s pace as he spoke quietly to him, and then Evan came out, showered and changed, and joined Tony and Chris with a bright smile. Eddie also realized that Tony and Chris had left their plates and it was up to him to wash them as Bobby and Athena sat down with their own plates of food.

Eddie regretted agreeing.

Tony was watching in amusement as JARVIS lifted the suit off the ground with two preteen boys hanging from the arms, giggling the whole time. He was sitting on one of the lawn chairs, monitoring the other suits that were helping with the clean-up, and Evan was with Chris playing with a little robot Tony had quickly built with some spare parts of an old TV that had been set out for recycling. It was almost domestic watching it all, and Tony had always thought he’d be averse to the idea. However, it was actually really... nice.

 _‘Sir, there is something important that requires your attention,’_ JARVIS said in his ear, breaking his peace. Tony sighed, wondering what was happening now. He didn’t think he was recharged enough for another emergency, but this was the life he’d chosen. Tony took another moment to watch Evan with Chris, the man and child laughing as the robot flew around them as it beeped. _‘Sir?’_

“Yeah, J,” he muttered. He stood, setting JARVIS to continue using the Iron Legion to help in California. “Evan.” The man lifted his head to look at him and Tony regretted the sight of that smile wiping from his face.

“You have to go,” he said, not even needing to ask. Tony nodded anyways. Evan’s lips twisted into a resigned expression before stood up as he lifted Chris to his feet. “Alright guys, it’s almost time for dinner!” Harry and Denny groaned but they released the armor’s arms as it alighted on the ground. “Say goodbye to Tony.”

“Bye, Mr. Stark!” both boys chorused as they ran inside, making Tony wince. He’d managed to get them to call him Tony until Athena and Denny’s moms had intervened. Apparently calling an adult by their first name was the height of bad manners, even when said adult insisted on it.

Chris came over to give him a hug, which Tony was still getting use to and then tottered off on his crutches. Tony turned to Evan, who had the robot in his hand. “Gonna miss me?” he asked.

Evan rolled his eyes and pulled him into a hug. “Certainly not your ego,” he teased, making Tony swat at his head as he pulled away. He paused as Tony slipped his phone into his hand. “What?”

“I know you lost yours, and I’d feel more reassured if I could actually reach you when I call again.” Evan seemed hesitant, but after a moment looking at him, he rolled his eyes but took it.

“Never knew you were such a worrier,” Evan huffed, the slight smile on his lips taking the sting out of his words.

“Well, when it comes to you, I have no other choice,” he said, poking him on the chest. Evan caught his hand and they both paused, a moment passing between them that was _very familiar_ , and then JARVIS was talking in his ear again and Tony cursed. “I gotta go.” He squeezed Evan’s hand, and when he stepped away, the taller man released it almost reluctantly as the billionaire stepped into the suit as it closed around him.

Evan watched the eyes of the suit light up and he lifted a hand in a wave. “Be careful, Tony.”

“Always am,” he said, his voice sounding mechanized, and then he blasted off into the air.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Eddie had tried to help with dinner, but Athena and Bobby had waved him off, which was good since he could literally burn water. He’d just wanted to be polite and offer, and was more than glad to instead set the table. Michael had left during lunch, stating that he had work. Apparently he had volunteered his time as an architect in the rebuilding efforts, and he had a dinner meeting. May had asked permission to have dinner at a friend’s house, so she’d left almost an hour ago.

Chimney and Maddie had left as well, the latter going to bid Tony farewell, but not before sharing a picture in the groups chat. It was a picture of Tony and Buck asleep on the couch, hands clasped while the slept. The others had cooed at the sight of them, but Eddie had felt a flare of jealousy. And yes, he could admit now that is what it was.

He was jealous seeing them holding hands, almost like they were together. Eddie hoped not.

Hen poked him and Eddie startled, realizing he was glaring at the table, having gotten lost in his thoughts. Karen and Hen told Athena and Bobby that they would head home after dinner, and Eddie had told them the same thing. If anything, he felt they had overstayed their welcome, even if Bobby assured them that they were welcome for as long as they wanted.

In truth, he should be spending more time with his abuela and aunt, and would have been there instead of it wasn’t that Chris had wanted to see Buck. Eddie also wanted to see him, if he was being honest. And while he should have left after lunch, he’d stayed.

Eddie smiled in fond amusement as Harry and Denny ran in, followed at a more slower pace by Chris. “Go get washed up,” he told the boys. As they did, he heard the blast of repulsors, and Buck came inside a few moments later. “Hey, did Stark leave?” He tried not to sound too glad over this.

Buck nodded. “Yeah, duty calls,” he said with a shake of his head. “You guys’ll be the same way tomorrow.”

Eddie nodded. “Probably,” he said, moving around and hip checking Buck out of the way. He smirked as the other huffed but smiled back at him. “So, I’ll probably have to bring Chris over. Hopefully you’ll be awake again,” he teased.

Buck’s eyes went wide in surprise, shocked into silence.

Eddie looked at him “What?” He put the rest of the utensils down and stepped toward him at seeing the confusion on his face. “I will say, honestly, you being laid up is working out for me,” he joked. “I mean, you’re no abuela, and you’re half a Carla, but you’ll do in a pinch.”

“You want _me_... to watch Christopher?”

Eddie shrugged with another teasing smile. “It’s easy. He’s not very fast.”

“After everything that happened?”

“A natural disaster happened, Buck.”

“I lost him, Eddie,” he emphasized, as if it were something that Eddie could have possibly forgotten. The happiness of a few minutes ago was gone to be replaced with sorrow in his clear blue eyes. Eddie remembered the words he’d spoken to Maddie when he had thought no one could hear him.

“No,” Eddie said firmly, “you found him. You saved him.” He motioned to Chris as he returned with the other boys as they all giggled together. “That’s how he remembers it. Before he was found by Iron Man, it was _you_ that saved him, Buck.”

He lifted a hand and laid it on his shoulder. “And now it’s his turn to do the same for you.”

“I was— I was supposed to look out for him,” Buck insisted.

“And what? You think you failed?” Eddie asked, shaking his head. “I failed that kid more times that I care to count, and I’m his father. But I love him enough to never stop trying, and I know you do too.”

Buck seemed to not believe him and he squeezed his shoulder, his thumb pressed against his pulse point. It was a way to reassure himself that he was still there, alive and unharmed, since he hadn’t been able to do so before. In a way, he blamed it on Tony Stark, but now wasn’t about that man. It was about alleviating the distress he felt coming from his best friend.

“Buck... there’s nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you,” he said, making sure to always maintain eye contact to reassure him he was being truthful. When his friend finally nodded, he gave his shoulder a squeeze and went back to his assignment of finishing setting up the table, which had had another smaller one pressed together due to the extra people over.

Chris came over and he hugged Buck who was closer and then made his way over to his dad. As he hugged him with his free hand, he lifted his gaze to meet Buck’s once again. “Also, thank you, for not giving up,” he said with a meaningful look down at the little boy in his embrace.

Buck glanced away, not so discreetly wiping at his eyes. “Of course,” he said, and if his voice sounded wobbly, neither of them mentioned it.

That night at dinner they gave thanks, for all of them being safe after such a horrible ordeal. It was something they could all agree to.

\- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“J, give me a location,” Tony grunted as he felt an RPG hit closer than he was comfortable with, knowing he had to take out that foxhole before he could get close to the building. The HUD display had been damaged in the last attack, so he couldn’t see where the foxhole was, however, he could find it by following JARVIS’s instructions.

 _‘The foxhole is fifty meters ten inches to your left, sir,’_ his A.I. informed him in that calm voice he always had. Tony took a deep breath and turned exactly ten inches to the left.

“Firing ballistic missile,” he said as he lifted his arm. The whizz of it registered for a few brief seconds before the sound of an explosion sounded.

 _‘Threat neutralized,’_ JARVIS informed him.

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief, since that was all the opposition that JARVIS had detected. Now he just had to get inside, access their computers to find more of these Ten Rings bases. Ever since he’d become Iron Man, he had been systematically working through their bases of operations and finding the illegal weapons sold by Stane. It was only after Rhodey had become War Machine that it had gotten better, since together they could take them out faster.

As far as they could tell, this was one of their last strongholds, and if that were so then it would finally be over. All the weapons that Stane had sold under his nose, it would be finished this time. The guilt he carried over it could fade, at least, just a little bit. Because the lives lost couldn’t be recovered, but at least there would be no one else hurt by weapons once built by Stark Industries; weapons designed by him.

He opened the faceplate as soon as he got inside, since the Heads-Up Display was damaged. Tony was glad when he didn’t meet any resistance, since he couldn’t aim for shit at the moment. He really needed to reinforce the faceplate to protect the HUD, since it was the only way he could see while inside the suit besides lifting the faceplate, which would leave him vulnerable to attack.

As he arrived at the computer room and still hadn’t met opposition, he was starting to get suspicious, and slightly worried that this would be a dead end. Even so, Tony stepped out of the suit and came up to the computer terminal. His fingers flew over the keys as he started to hack into the systems, and it was like ripping through wet tissue; their systems were horribly outdated.

He smacked his hand against the keyboard when he didn’t find anything, a few keys flying from how hard he’d hit it. “Shit,” he growled, leaning over the desk and tried to calm down. Because now he had to start searching all over again from scratch, and the closure he had been hoping for seemed farther away now.

He was distracted and didn’t react quickly enough as he heard JARVIS’s urgent voice a moment before someone fired into the computer room. The man cried out as he felt the bullet hit him, like fire passing through him.

Tony heard JARVIS firing the repulsors as he fell.-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also most of this was written before Buck’s parents were introduced so I’m not changing anything. The big secret revealed on 04x05 Buck Begins is going to be disregarded, cause I hadn’t planned for it and it won’t fit to my storyline.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on my instagram: [@phiodmuse](https://www.instagram.com/phiodmuse/)
> 
> Or my tumblr: [name-me-regret](https://name-me-regret.tumblr.com/)


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